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«l|  i^^rpff  Ir 
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ANCIENT  RECORDS  OF  EGYPT 


ANCIENT  RECORDS 


UNDHR  THE  GENERAL  EDITORSHIP  OF 
WILLIAM  RAINEY  HARPER 


JTirtft 

ANCIENT  RECORDS  OF  ASSYRIA  AND  BABYLONIA 

EDITED  BT  BOBEBT  FBANCIS  HABPEB 

i^rrimd 

ANCIENT  RECORDS  OP  EGYPT 

EDITED  BT  JAMBS  HENBT  BBEASTBD 

0trir« 

ANCIENT  RECORDS  OF  PALESTINE,  PHCENICIA 
AND  SYRIA 

EDITED  BY  WILLIAM  BAINET  HABPEB 


THE  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY 


REIGN  OF  HARMHAB 
TOMB  OF  HARMHAB* 

I.  This  splendid  limestone  tomb  was  built  by  the  general, 
Harmhab,  who  afterward  became  King  Harmhab.  His 
career  before  he  gained  the  throne  is  openly  narrated  in 
his  Coronation  Inscription  (§§22  ff.);  but  the  first  step 
in  the  study  of  his  life  is  the  demonstration  of  the  identity 
of  the  general  and  the  king.  This  was  first  proved  by 
the  observation  that  the  Vienna  fragment  may  be  fitted 
upon  the  Leyden  blocks**  (§§2-13).  The  construction 
of  the  tomb  and  execution  of  the  reliefs  belong  to  a 
period  either  just  before  or  just  after  the  Aton  heresy  of 
Ikhnaton;  for  Harmhab,  in  praising  King  Ikhnaton,  states 
that  he  owes  his  kingdom  to  Amon'  (§8);  furthermore, 
the  gods  of  Heliopolis — Horus,  Osiris,  Isis,  Nephthys, 
and^athor — are  mentioned.  As  Amon  is  not  erased  in 
the  tomb,  this,  with  the  mention  of  the  other  gods,  would 
indicate  that  the  tomb  was  constructed  under  Ikhnaton’s 
weak  successors,  after  the  resumption  of  the  Amon- 
worship,  at  a  time  when  the  commemoration  of  Harm- 
hab’s  favor  under  Ikhnaton  was  not  yet  a  political  faux 
pas.  But  this  is  not  certain. 


•It  originally  stood  in  Sakkara,  but  has  been  ruthlessly  destroyed.  .The  few 
fragments  which  have  survived  are  now  in  six  different  museums. 

'>See  my  remarks,  Zeitschrilt  fUr  dgypiische  Sprache,  38,  47  ff. 

cThis  has  little  or  no  bearing  on  the  date  of  the  event  depicted  in  the  relief,  but 
only  on  the  date  of  the  execution  of  the  relief.  The  later  insertion  of  the  uraeus 
shows  that  an  anachronism  like  the  assumed  mention  of  Amon  in  Ikhnaton’s 
presence  might  easily  be  perpetrated  after  the  worship  of  Amon  had  been 
resumed. 


3 


4 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARlVfHAB 


[ia 


I.  LEYDEN  FRAGMENTS* 

I.  STELA  WITH  ADORATION  SCENE'’ 

2.  The  hawk-headed  Re,  enthroned,  is  worshiped  by  the 
deceased,  standing,  who  “shows  in  his  body  exactly  those 
deformities  by  which  the  king  Chu-en-Aten  is  to  be  recog¬ 
nized.  The  belly  projects  forward  prominently,  and  heavy 
masses  of  fat  are  distributed  along  the  entire  body.  His 
hair  is  curled,  and  about  the  neck  he  wears  the  braided 
necklace  with  which  Chu-en-Aten  was  accustomed  to 
reward  his  most  faithful  servants.”  The  inscription  of 
twelve  very  short  vertical  lines  over  the  heads  of  the 
figures,  is  as  follows: 


Over  the  God 

3.  I.  Harakhte!  Great  god,  lord  of  heaven,  lord  of  earth;  who 
Cometh  forth  from  the  horizon.  He  illuminateth  the  Two  Lands,  the 
sun  of  darkness,  as  the  great  one,  as  Re. 


Over  Harmhab  n 

4*  Praise  to  thee !  Re,  lord  of  truth,  great  god,  sovereign  of  Heli¬ 
opolis!  May  he  grant  a  fortunate  life,  ** — in  eternity,  glory  in  heaven, 
favor  in  earth,  for  the  ka  of  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  army, 
Harmhab,  triumphant. 

5.  The  content  of  the  inscription,  like  the  reliefs,  shows 
plain  traces  of  the  influence  of  Ikhnaton’s  movement;  al¬ 
though  Aton  is  not  mentioned.  The  following  reliefs  show 
clearly  the  relation  of  Harmhab  to  Ikhnaton. 


•These  fragments  have  never  been  published  entire. 

'^Leyden  Museum,  V,  29;  a  rectangular  tablet,  the  text  of  which  was  published 
by  Wiedemann  {Zeitschrift  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  1885,  80,  81)  without  the  reliefs 
of  which  he  offers  the  above  description. 


TOMB  OF  HARMHAB 


5 


2.  REWARD  OF  GOLD* 

6.  These  reliefs  are  in  two  series,  **  both  representing 
Harmhab  receiving  the  reward  of  gold  from  his  king. 

7.  In  the  first  series,  the  figure  of  the  king  (at  the  extreme 
right)  is  lost.  Harmhab,  wearing  the  uraeus,  and  with  hands 
raised  in  rejoicing,  is  loaded  with  collars  of  gold;  behind 
him  (at  the  left)  approach  two  long  double  lines  of  Asiatics, 
each  pair  led  by  two  Egyptians;  over  these  were  lines  of 
horsemen!® 

8.  In  the  second  series,  the  lower  portion  of  the  king’s 
figure  (at  the  extreme  left)  is  preserved  and  shows  unmis¬ 
takably  the  peculiar  characteristics  found  only  in  the  repre¬ 
sentations  of  Ikhnaton.  His  queen  stands  behind  him,  as 
in  the  similar  scenes  at  Amarna,  and  showing  the  same 
peculiarities  of  style.  Below  is  Harmhab  alone,'*  his  neck 
loaded  with  golden  collars,  having  before  him  the  lower  ends 
of  three  lines  of  inscription,  as  follows: 

'[Speech] - in  his  presence,  by  the  hereditary  prince,  count, 

sole  companion,  king’s-scribe,  Harmhab,  triumphant.  He  says,  while 

he  answers  '[the  king] - fThe  kingdom  is  thine^  forever  and 

ever;  Amon  has  assigned  it  to  thee.  They  muster  [every]  country 
3 - in  their  heart  as  one.  Thy  name  is  a-  fire  * - . 

9.  Adjoining  this  scene  on  the  right  is  a  continuation, 

‘These  reliefs  have  never  b^n  published.  I  secured  photographs  of  them 
through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Pleyte.  They  are  described  by  Leemans,  Description 
raisonnee  des  monuments  egyptienSj  40-41,  C,  1-3;  see  also  Leemans,  Monuments 
du  Musee  d^Antiquites,  I,  31  -34. 

^The  upper  portion,  containing  the  inscriptions  in  each  series,  is  unfortunately 
lost,  and  the  extreme  lower  ends  of  a  few  lines  remain. 

cQnly  a  long  line  of  prancing  horses’  feet  are  visible;  as  there  are  no  chariot 
wheels  among  them,  and  no  human  feet  of  men  leading  them  (except  at  the  extreme 
front),  we  may  suppose  that  we  have  here  a  unique  scene  on  an  Egyptian  monu¬ 
ment — a  troop  of  Asiatic  horsemen.  That  the  horses  are  being  driven  in  a  loose 
herd  in  the  presence  of  the  king  is  also  possible. 

dThe  head  is  lost,  but  of  course  it  would  show  the  uraeus,  as  everywhere  else 
in  the  tomb. 


6 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§  10 


showing  Harmhab  (on  the  left)  received  with  acclamation 
by  his  household  servants*  (on  the  right),  as  he  returns 
wearing  his  newly  received  collars  of  gold.  Besides  his  two 
Eg)^tian  servants  appears  a  group  of  Asiatics,  like  those 
in  the  first  scene,  all  in  postures  of  extravagant  joy.® 

n.  VIENNA  FRAGMENT’* 

10.  The  block  contains  a  text  of  eight  vertical  lines  above 
a  relief  scene,  representing  a  group  of  Egyptian  officials 
bowing  (toward  the  left)  to  their  superior,  Harmhab  (his 
figure  is  lost  on  the  left),  who  is  giving  them  instructions 
regarding  the  disposition  of  certain  Asiatics,  whose  town 
has  been  attacked,  plundered,  and  destroyed.  The  whole 
description  shows  that  we  have  in  these  Asiatics,  fugitives 
from  the  conditions  in  Palestine  described  in  the  Amama 
Letters  at  this  time.  The  arrival  of  these  people  must  have 
fallen  under  the  reign  of  Ikhnaton  or  his  immediate  suc¬ 
cessors.  They  desire  a  home  in  Egypt,  as  they  say,  after 
the  manner  of  your  father^  fathers  since  the  beginning." 
This,  with  the  letter  in  Papyrus  Anastasi'  (VI,  4,  13  ff.,  and 
5,  iff.),  makes  quite  certain  the  custom  of  allowing  the 
Asiatic  Bedwin  the  privilege  of  settling  in  Egypt,  to  pasture 
their  herds  in  the  eastern  Delta  in  times  of  distress,  and  is 


•The  same  in  the  tomb  of  Eye  at  Amarna. 

'^Two  Libyans  are  among  them. 

cOne  of  them  is  on  his  back,  and  one  on  his  belly.  This  explains  the  greeting 

in  the  Amarna  letters:  “At  the  feet  of  my  lord  the  king . seven  times  and 

seven  times  with  breast  and  back.  I  throw  myself”  (ed.  Winckler,  p.  285,  No.  158, 
11.  9-13).  No.  157  has:  “with  belly  and  back.” 

‘^In  the  imperial  collection;  published  by  Wiedemann,  Proceedings  of  the 
Society  of  Biblical  Archceology,  XI,  425;  and  Bergmann,  Zeitschrift  fUr  dgyptische 
Sprachtj  XXVII,  125-27.  Neither  publishes  the  reliefs,  for  which  I  had  my  own 
photograph  and  collation  of  the  original.  I  have  published  the  photograph  showing 
the  relief  in  ibid,,  38,  47. 

«5§  637  ff. 


TOMB  OF  HARMHAB 


7 


5  la] 


an  interesting  parallel  to  the  similar  favor  shown  to  Abra¬ 
ham  and  the  kindred  of  Joseph. 

11.  These  seven  lines  read: 

‘ “  Asiatics;  others  have  been  placed  in  their  abodes 

’ - they  have  been  destroyed,  and  their  town  laid  waste,  and  fire 

has  been  thrown  * - [Tthey  have  come  to  entreat’]  the  Great  in 

Strength  to  send  his  mighty  sword  before  - .  Their  countries 

are  starving,  they  live  like  goats  of  the  mountain,  [their]  children®  * - 

saying:  “A  few  of  the  Asiatics,  who  knew  not  how  they  should  live, 
have  come  <’[tbegg’]ing  fa  home  in  the  domain’]'’  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H., 
after  the  manner  of  your®  fathers’  fathers  since  the  beginning,  under 

’ - .  Now,  the  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  gives  them  into  your®  hand, 

to  protect  their  borders.” 

12.  Behind  the  officials  receiving  these  instructions  stood 
the  Asiatics  mentioned,  as  is  shown  by  the  fragment  of  one 
line  of  their  inscription  still  surviving.  It  reads: 

- their  boundaries - ’Lord’  of  the  Two  Lands.  They 

give  praise  to  the  Good  God,  the  Great  in  Strength,  Zeserkheprure 
(Harmhab). 

Now,  as  this  Vienna  block  has  been  shown  to  belong  to 
the  Leyden  reliefs,*  the  conclusion  would  be  that  the  royal 
figure  in  the  Leyden  reliefs  must  be  King  Harmhab.  But 
the  royal  figure  is  clearly  that  of  Ikhnaton.  The  difficulty  is 
solved  by  the  explanation  of  another  incongruity  in  the 
tomb.  Throughout  its  reliefs  the  figure  of  the  general, 
Harmhab,  wears  the  uraeus.  This  uraeus,  as  has  been 


®An  uncertain  amount  is  lacking  at  the  beginning  uf  each  line;  this  is  left 
unindicated  by  Wiedemann. 

'^Probably,  has  been  thrown  [into  their  grain\y’*  see  I,  658,  11.  15,  16. 
cAn  obvious  emendation. 

dThe  restoration  is  exceedingly  uncertain,  but  something  similar  must  be 
supplied. 

«Plural. 

^  have  published  the  Vienna  block  and  the  adjoining  Leyden  fragments  in 
Zeitschrift  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache^  38,  47. 


8 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§  13 


clearly  proved,®  is  a  later  insertion  after  the  reliefs  were 
finished.  Hence  the  name  of  King  Harmhab  is  a  similar 
later  insertion,  and  the  Asiatics  bowing,  of  course,  like  the 
officials,  originally  to  the  general  Harmhab,  are  now  rep¬ 
resented  as  giving  praise  to  the  king  Harmhab.  The 
identity  of  the  general  and  the  king  is  thus  demonstrated. 

III.  ALEXANDRIA  FIL\GMENTS‘’ 

13.  The  text  recounted  a  journey  of  Harmhab  to  the 
upper  Nile,  as  messenger  of  some  king — a  journey  from 
which  he  returned  successfully,  bringing  tribute  which  the 
king  publicly  inspected.  Under  this  text  is  the  figure  of 
Harmhab  wearing  the  uraeus  and  leaning  on  a  staff. 

’ -  1  He  was  sent  as  royal  messenger  as  far  as  Aton 

shines,  coming  ar - no  land  stood  before  him;  ^he  captured  it 

in  the  passing  of  a  moment.  His  name  shall  be  remembered  in  sthe 

land  of  - ^  He  sailed  northward.  Behold,  his  majesty  ^appeared 

upon  a  dais  (used)  at  the  bringing®  in  of  tribute  ^and  the  [tribute]  ®of 
south  and  north  was  brought  in.  ^Behold,  the  prince,  ’“Harmhab, 
triumphant,  ’’stood  by  the  side  of - . 

IV.  BRITISH  MUSEUM  FRAGMENTS 

I.  DOORPOSTS"^ 

14.  These  monuments  are  chiefly  of  a  religious  nature, 
but  the  movement  of  Ikhnaton  was  so  largely  religious  that 


^ZeUschrijt  jUr  dgyplische  Sprache,  38,  49,  50.  The  fan  which  Harmhab 
carries  in  his  hand,  has  been  shifted  to  one  side  and  distorted.  The  old  lines  still 
visible  show  that  in  its  original  position,  the  top  of  the  fan  would  have  interfered 
with  the  uraeus;  hence  it  was  shifted  aside  to  insert  the  uraeus. 

^In  the  Collection  Zizinia;  published  by  Wiedemann,  Proceedings  oj  the 
Society  oj  Biblical  Archceology,  XI,  424;  it  contains  portions  of  eleven  lines,  the 
first  and  last  very  broken,  and  the  beginning  of  all  the  lines  wanting. 

^Egyptian  idiom,  dais  oj  the  bringing  in  oj  tribute^ 

<JNos.  550  and  552;  Birch,  Guide  to  the  Egyptian  Galleries,  36;  Sharpe, 
Egyptian  Inscriptions,  II,  92;  excellent  photographs  by  Clark  and  Davies,  London; 
I  had  also  my  own  copy. 


TOMB  OF  HARMHAB 


9 


§i6] 


such  texts  from  the  transition  period  are  historically  impor¬ 
tant.  Furthermore,  the  titles  of  Harmhab  which  they  con¬ 
tain  indicate  unusual  powers  and  connect  the  owner  of  this 
tomb  with  the  Harmhab  of  the  Turin  inscription  (§§  22  ff.), 
thus  confirming  the  identity  of  the  general  and  the  king, 
Harmhab. 

15.  Each  of  the  doorposts  has  below  a  figure  of  Harmhab 
in  adoration,  wearing  the  uraeus  as  usual,  and  having 
strapped  to  his  back  his  fan,  as  insignium  of  his  office. 
His  form  clearly  shows  traces  of  the  style  of  art  which  pre¬ 
vailed  under  Ikhnaton,  e.  g.,  the  thin  ankles,  above  which 
the  limbs  thicken  too  suddenly. 

16.  The  texts  are  in  six  vertical  lines  above  and  before 
the  figures,  one  being  a  Sun-Hymn,  as  follows: 

^Utterance  of  the  hereditary  prince,  Harmhab,  triumphant,  when  he 
worships  Re  at  his  rising,  saying: 

“Praise  to  thee!  who  becomest*  every  day, 

“Who  begettest  thyself*  each  morning, 

“Who  comest*  forth  from  the  body  of  thy*  mother  without  ceasing. 
“The  two  regions  come  to  thee  bowing  down, 

“They  give  to  thee  praise,  when  thou  risest, 

“When  thou  hast  illuminated  the  earth  with  brightness. 

“*Thy  divine  limbs  flame  as  a  mighty  one  in  the  heavens, 
“Excellent  god,  eternal  king, 

“Lord  of  brightness,  ruler  of  light, 

“Upon  his  throne  in  the  Morning-Barque, 

“Great  in  brilliance  in  the  Evening-Barque, 

“Divine  youth,  heir  of  eternity, 

“Who  begetteth  himself,  who  generateth  himself. 

“The  great  ennead  worship  thee, 

“3The  lesser  ennead  exult  to  thee; 

“They  praise  thee  in  thy  beautiful  forms, 

“With  thy  brilliance  in  the  Evening-Barque, 

“As  when  the  sacred  apes  spy  thee. 


•The  Egyptian  idiom  requires  third  person  here. 


lo  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB  [§17 


‘*^Rise  thou,  thy  heart  glad, 

“With  thy  diadems  in  the  horizon  of  heaven; 

“Grant  thou  glory  in  heaven, 

“Power  in  earth,® 

“That  I  may  go  forth  among  thy  followers  ^of  every  day; 

“That  my  heart  may  be  satisfied  with  all  offerings, 

“May  receive  flower-offerings,  from  the  sanctuary  (Jt' t-hfihn), 
“Upon  the  table  of  the  lords  of  Heliopolis.’^ 

^By  the  hereditary  prince,  count,  wearer  of  the  royal  seal,  sole  com¬ 
panion,  privy  councilor  of  the  palace,  superior  in  the  whole  land,  fan- 
bearer  at  the  right  of  the  king,  general  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands, 
real  king’s-scribe,  his  beloved,  the  hereditary  prince,  Harmhab. 

17.  The  other  doorpost  bears  the  usual  prayer  to  Os^is 
(but  is  important  for  the  titles  of  Harmhab),  as  follows: 

*Praise  to  thee!  Presider  over  the  west;  Osiris,  ruler  of  eternity; 
Wennofer,  lord  of  Tazoser;  Anubis,  lord  of  Rosta;  the  gods,  lords  of 
the  necropolis.  May  they  grant  bread,  beer,  oxen,  fowl,  libations  of 
water,  wine  and  milk  for  the  hereditary  prince,  the  general  in  chief  of 
the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  king’s-scribe,  *scribe  of  recruits,  fan-bearer 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  king,  overseer,  giving  satisfaction  in  the  whole 
land,  great  in  his  office,  great  in  rank,  the  two  eyes  of  the  king  in  the 
Two  Lands,  favorite  of  Horus  in  the  palace,  satisfying  the  heart  of  the 
king,  3with  all  monuments,  overseer  of  works  in  the  mountain  of  grit¬ 
stone,^  deputy  of  the  king,  presiding  over  the  Two  Lands,  Harmhab, 
triumphant;  he  saith:  “Homage  to  thee!  Presider  over  the  west,  Osiris 
in  the  midst  of  Abydos.  have  come  to  thee  (extending)  my  two 
hands  in  adoration  of  the  beauty  of  thy  majesty.  Set  thou  me  among 
thy  followers,  like  the  glorious  ones  who  enter  ^the  nether  world,  who 
live  in  truth  every  day.  May  I  be  one  among  them,  (for)  my 
abomination  was  lying,  I  executed  ^truth  upon  earth  without  neg¬ 
lecting  it. 

“For  the  ka  of  the  hereditary  prince,  real  king’s-scribe,  his  be¬ 
loved,  deputy  of  the  king  in  the  whole  land,  general  in  chief,  Harmhab, 
triumphant.” 


•Cf.  the  prayer  on  the  second  Leyden  fragment. 

'>Cf.  Inscription  of  Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapi  (II,  917,  1.  40). 


TOMB  OF  HARMHAB 


II 


iao] 


2.  STELA  WITH  THREE  HYMNS® 

18.  Above,  occupying  about  one-third  of  the  stela,  is  a 
relief  showing  the  divinities  Harakhte,  Thoth,  and  Mat, 
standing,  before  whom  stands  Harmhab  worshiping.  His 
head  is  (in  the  photograph)  almost  wholly  destroyed,  and 
the  uraeus,  if  present,  cannot  be  discerned.  Over  Re  are 
the  words:  “ Harakhte,  only  god,  king  oj  the  gods;  he  rises  in 

the  west,  he  sendeth  his  beauty - Thoth  and  Mat  bear 

the  usual  titles,  while  before  Harmhab  is  a  magical  prayer. 

19.  The  text  of  twenty-five  lines  addresses  one  after  the 
other.  Re,  Thoth,  and  Mat,  with  the  usual  praise  and 
prayers.  These  show  clearly  that  the  old  traditional  views 
are  in  full  sway,  although  Aton  is  mentioned  in  1.  2 :  “  Thou 
art  beautiful,  youthful,  as  Aton  before  thy  mother  Hathor.” 
The  hymn  is  very  interesting,  but  not  historically  important. 

V.  CAIRO  FRAGMENTS 

20.  Two  blocks,'’  apparently  doorposts,  contain  the  fol¬ 
lowing  important  titles  of  Harmhab  above  his  figure  on  each 
block  seated  at  an  offering-table  and  wearing  the  uraeus. 
Each  column  begins  with:  Hereditary  prince,  count,  wearer 
of  the  royal  seal,  sole  companion and  then  proceeds  with 
the  further  titles: 

*Privy  councilor  of  the  palace  (pr-stny),  great  in  love  with  his  lord, 
chief  prophet  of  Horus,  lord  of  Sebi  (Sby) for  the  ka  of  the  general  in 
chief,  Harmhab.  'Prince  of  the  greatest  of  the  companions,  confidant  of 
especial  confidants  (conclusion  as  in  1. 1) ;  ^king’s-follower  on  his  expe- 


•Published  by  Meyer,  ZeUschrijt  filr  agyptische  Sprachcy  1877,  148  ff.;  photo¬ 
graph  by  Clark  and  Davies;  I  had  also  my  own  copy  from  the  original. 

'^Mariette,  Monuments  diver Sy  74  —  Rougd,  Inscriptions  hUroglyi>hiqueSy  CVII- 
CVIII. 

cThe  place  is  unknown,  but  is  probably  connected,  if  not  identical,  with  Ala- 
bastronpolis,  the  patron  deity  of  which  was  also  Horus;  this  Horus  is  the  one  whom 
the  king  claims  as  his  special  patron  at  his  coronation  (§27).  The  title,  ** chief 
prophety'  is  an  old  nomarch  title,  and  of  course  descended  to  Harmhab  from  his 
ancestors  at  Alabastronpolis. 


12 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


ditions  in  the  south  and  north  country  (conclusion  as  in  1.  i).  ■♦Great¬ 
est  of  the  great,  mightiest  of  the  mighty;  great  lord  of  the  people  (con¬ 
clusion  as  in  1.  i).  sKing’s-messenger  at  the  head  of  his  army,  to  the 
south  and  north  country  (conclusion  as  in  1.  i).  ®Chosen  of  the  king, 
presider  over  the  Two  Lands,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  administration  of 
the  Two  Lands,  general  of  generals  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands;  for 
the  ka  of  the  real  king’s-scribe,  his  beloved,  Harmhab.  ^Giving  sat¬ 
isfaction  in  the  entire  land,  privy  councilor  of  the  palace,  unique  in 
his  qualities,  recorder  of  the  troops;  for  the  ka  of  the  chief  steward, 
Harmhab.  *G)mpanion  of  the  feet  of  his  lord  upon  the  battlefield  on 
that  day  of  slaying  the  Asiatics  (St'lyw)^  (conclusion  as  in  1. 1). 

21.  Several  other  fragments  in  Cairo  contain  the  con¬ 
ventional  mortuary  prayers’*  and  show  Harmhab  wearing 
the  uraeus®  and  kneeling  before  various  divinities,  chiefly 
Osiris,  Isis,  and  Nephthys.  Finally  there  are  two  fragments 
in  Bologna  not  noted  heretofore;  one**  shows  him  wearing 
the  uraeus,  and  plowing  in  the  fields  of  Yarn  in  the  here¬ 
after;  the  other'  contains  part  of  an  historical  scene,  show¬ 
ing  the  presentation  of  Negro  captives,  and  mentioning  the 
tribute  of  Palestine, 

CORONATION  INSCRIPTION 

22.  This  important  inscription  relates:  (i)  the  youth 
(11.  1-5);  (2)  career  at  court  (11.  5-12);  (3)  coronation  in 


•It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  Ikhnaton  is  the  king  meant  here;  it  must  be 
one  of  his  successors,  probably  Tutenkhaton,  by  whom  tribute  was  received  from 
the  north. 

^Rougd,  Inscriptions  hiiroglyphiques,  CIV-CVI. 

cMariette,  Monuments  divers,  75  —  Roug^,  Inscriptions  hiiroglyphiques, 
XXXVI  f. 

^No.  1885.  The  fragment  does  not  bear  the  name  of  Harmhab  anywhere, 
but  is  identical  in  style  with  the  known  fragments  of  his  tomb,  and  as  the  uraeus 
is  clearly  a  later  insertion  throughout  the  fragment  (six  lines),  it  is  undoubtedly 
another  hitherto  unnoticed  wanderer  from  Harmhab's  tomb. 

«No.  1165.  The  style  is  unquestionably  sufficient  to  identify  this  piece  as 
belonging  to  the  same  tomb. 

^Engraved  ^^on  the  back  of  a  black  granite  group  of  two  seated  statues  in  the 


CORONATION  INSCRIPTION 


13 


S**] 


Thebes  (11.  12-21);  and  (4)  the  early  reign  (11.  21-26)  of 
Harmhab.  It  shows  clearly  this  king’s  obscure  origin  and 
his  rise,  through  continued  favor  at  court,  to  the  kingship. 
The  king  who  favored  him  is  not  mentioned;  but  the  Leyden 
tomb  reliefs  (§§2  ff.)  show  that  he  was  a  favorite  of  Ikhnaton. 
It  is  possible  that  he  is  to  be  found  among  Ikhnaton’s  favor¬ 
ites  at  Amarna  as  Patonemhab.®  He  also  enjoyed  the 
favor  of  Tutenkhamon,*’  and  it  must  have  been  one  of  these 
two  kings  of  whom  he  speaks;  probably  the  latter.  He  was 
the  descendant  of  an  old  nomarchical  house  at  Alabastron- 
polis.  Rising  from  such  beginnings,  throughout  the  pre¬ 
carious  reigns  of  Ikhnaton’s  successors,  Harmhab  skilfully 
maintained  himself,  and  gradually  gained  a  position  of  such 
power  that  by  conciliating  the  priestly  party  of  Amon,  which 
was  then  again  in  the  ascendant,  he  finally  succeeded  in 
seizing  the  throne.  Thus,  after  their  long  struggle  with  the 
Aton  heresy,  we  see  the  Amonite  priests  seating  a  second 
Pharaoh  on  the  throne,  as  they  had  seated  Thutmose  HI. 
From  his  home  in  Alabastronpolis  he  is  led  by  Horus,  as  the 
piously  veiled  language  of  the  inscription  puts  it,  into  the 
presence  of  Amon  at  Thebes,  where  he  is  crowned  and  his 


Museum  of  Turin,”  representing  Harmhab  and  his  wife,  Mutnezmet.  The  two 
sides  also  contained  texts,  which  have  disappeared,  with  the  exception  of  nineteen 
signs  on  the  lady’s  side,  among  which  her  name  occurs.  The  statues  are  described 
by  Birch  {Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology,  III,  486  ff.),  who 
gives  other  references.  The  text  of  twenty-six  lines  was  published  by  Birch 
(ibid.f  facing  p.  486)  from  a  sketch  by  Bonomi,  which  the  latter  made  from  a 
squeeze  taken  by  himself.  It  is  very  inaccurate,  as  Birch  evidently  worked  from 
the  squeeze  in  translating,  and  did  not  revise  Bonomi’s  sketch.  It  was  pub¬ 
lished  again  by  Brugsch  {Thesaurus,  V,  1073-78),  also  very  inaccurately.  I 
have  copied  the  original  in  Turin  and  collated  the  copy  with  the  Berlin  squeeze 
(No.  1353).  This  I  again  collated  with  the  original  in  Turin. 

^Recueil,  XV,  50.  The  tomb  of  this  man  is  at  Amarna.  Such  a  change  of 
name,  involving  the  substitution  of  Aton  for  Horus  (Har),  is  common  at  this  time. 
But  I  am  more  inclined  to  find  in  Patonemhab  the  man  who  was  won  to  Harmhab’s 
cause  and  became  high  priest  of  Re  at  Heliopolis,  with  the  name  Premhab 
{RecueU,  XVI,  123  f.). 

l>Sayce,  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology,  XXI,  141. 


14 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[5  *3 


titulary  fixed  by  the  gods.  To  make  his  claim  on  the  crown 
legitimate,  however,  he  next  proceeds  to  the  palace  of  the 
princess,  Mutnezmet,  the  sister  of  Iklmaton’s  queen,  Nefer- 
nefruaton-Nofretete,  who,  although  advanced  in  years,  was 
a  princess  of  the  royal  line,  and  is  there  recognized  as  her 
husband. 

23.  After  the  celebration  of  a  feast  in  Luxor,  the  king 
proceeds  northward,  to  restore  the  temples  of  the  gods — 
an  interesting  indication  of  the  destructive  work  of  Ikhnaton’s 
reform,  in  abolishing  the  old  cults.  Thus  the  old  order  and, 
particularly,  the  unchecked  domination  of  Amon  are  restored. 
The  calendar  of  feasts  was  immediately  resumed  and  before 
he  left  Thebes,  he  celebrated  the  Feast  of  Ptah  in  his  Theban 
temple.  He  left  a  record*  of  it  in  the  Ptah-temple  there: 

Year  i,  fourth  month  of  the  first  season,  day  22,  of  the  King  Harm- 
hab,'’  the  day  of  the  feast  of  ‘  ‘  Ptah-South-of-His-Wall,”  lord  of  “  Life-of- 
the-Two-Lands”  in  Thebes;  at  his  feast  were  founded  [the  offerings] 
of  the  ancestors - .”® 

This  record  enables  us  to  determine  that  Harmhab  re¬ 
mained  in  Thebes  at  least  two  months;  for  it  is  to  be  inferred 
that  he  was  present  at  the  above  feast,  which  is  about  two 
months  later  than  the  Feast  of  Opet,  during  which  he  arrived 
at  Thebes  for  his  coronation. 

Youth 

24.  ' - [Horns:  Mighty  Bull,  Ready  in  Plans;  Favorite  of 

the  Two  Goddesses:  Great  in  Marvels  in  Kamak;  Golden  Horus:  Sat- 


•Mariette,  Karnak,  PL  47,  D;  Lcgrain,  Annalesy  III,  100. 

^Double  name. 

^Doubtless  a  list  of  the  restored  offerings  followed.  A  stela  commemorating 
Harmhab’s  pious  works  in  this  temple  has  suffered  too  much  to  discern  its  content 
{Annales,  III,  iii,  112). 

dThe  lacuna  contained  either:  (i)  the  date,  followed  as  usual  by  ** under  the 
majesty  of**  and  the  royal  titulary;  or  (2)  the  frequent  opening  formulary,  **Live 
the  Horus”  followed  by  the  titulary. 


CORONATION  INSCRIPTION 


§25] 


IS 


is]*fied  with  Truth,  Creator  of  the  Two  Lands  King  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  Zeserkheprure,  Setepnere;^  Son 
of  Re,  Lord  of  Diadems:  Beloved  of  Amon,  Harmhab,^  [Beloved  of] 

Homs,  lord  of  Alabastronpolis® - ^  ^  Bull  of  his  mother, 

Amon,  king  of  gods,  was  the  one  who  brought  him  up;  Har-si-ese,  his 
guardian  was  the  protector  of  his  limbs.  He  came  forth  from  the  body, 

clothed  with  strength;  the  hue  of  a  god  was  upon  him;  he  made - 

3 - ^  the  arm  was  dropped  to  him  as  a  child,  obeisance  among 

great  and  small,  ®  him  food  and  eatables,  while  he  was  a  child,  with- 

out  his  counsel  * - '  great  before  all  the  land;  the  form  of  a  god 

was  in  his  color,  before  the  beholder  of  his  form,  the  strength  of  his 
father,  Horus.  He  set  himself  behind  him;  he  that  created  him  exerted 

his  protection.  The  people  brought  all  i ^  —  5 - j  he  knew  the 

day  of  his  satisfaction,  to  give  to  him  his  kingdom. 

Appointment  to  Office 

25.  Behold,  this  god  exalted  his  son  before  all  the  land;^  he  desired 
to  extend  his  steps,  until  the  coming  of  the  day  of  his  receiving  his 
office,  that  he  might  give  ^ ^  of  his  time.  The  heart  of  the  king 
was  satisfied  with  his  affairs;  (he)  rejoiced  at  his  choice;  he  appointed 
him  to  be  chief  (r^  -hry)  of  the  land,  to  administer  the  laws  of  the  Two 
Lands  as  hereditary  prince  of  all  this  land;  he  was  unique,  without  his 

second-  The  plans  ’ - f He  astonished^]  the  people,  by  that 

which  came  out  of  his  mouth.  When  he  was  summoned  before  the 
king,  the  palace,  it  began  to  fear.  When  he  opened  his  mouth,  when 
he  replied  to  the  king,  he  pleased  him  with  that  which  came  out  of  his 
mouth.  The  only  excellent  one,  without  *[his  isecondi]  - 


»The  lacking  portion  of  the  full  titulary  is  restored  from  the  Karnak  pylons  of 
Harmhab,  cf.  Brugseh-Bouriant,  Le  livre  des  rois,  56,  57. 

^Incorrectly  copied  as  a  |  by  Birch. 

cM waning:  ** Splendid  {is)  the  being  oj  Re^  Chosen  0]  Re.^' 

^Meaning:  Horus  at  the  jeast'^ 

«This  shows  that  the  statue  came  from  Alabastronpolis;  it  is  omitted  by 
Brugseh. 

iBirch  adds  “  Good  God^"*  but  it  is  not  in  his  text.  ^About  one-third  line. 

8 About  one-third  line.  'Over  one-quarter  line. 

iOver  one-quarter  line.  The  subject  of  the  verb  is  some  god,  as  is  evident 
from  the  next  sentence. 

kWith  the  determinative  of  people, 

*Over  one-quarter  line.  “About  one-quarter  line. 


i6 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§26 


His  every  plan  was  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Ibis.^  His  decisions  were^ 
in  accord  with^  the  Lord  of  Hesret;^  rejoicing  in  accustomed  usage  like 
Thoth,  pleased  of  heart  therewith  like  Ptah.  When  he  woke  in  the 
morning,  he  presented  her  ^due^;  ^the  wayi  ^ ®  his  affairs.  As 
for  one  who  walks  in  her^^  way,  it  is  she  who  protects  him  on  earth 
forever. 

Appointed  Deputy 

26.  Behold,  he  administered  the  Two  Lands  during  a  period  of 
many  years;  there  reported  [to  him]®  ®  there  [bowed  down] 

to  him  the  council  in  obeisance  at  the  front  of  the  palace,  there  came  to 
him  the  chiefs  of  the  Nine  Bows,  South  as  well  as  North;  their  hands 
were  spread  out  in  his  presence,  they  offered  praise  to  his  face  as  (to)  a 
god.  All  that  was  done  was  done  under  command  “[from  him]^ 

- ®.  When  he  came,  the  fear  of  him  was  great  in  the  sight  of 

the  people;  prosperity  and  health^  were  besought  for  him;  he  was 
greeted:  “Father  of  the  Two  Lands,  excellent  counsel  of  divine  gift,^ 
in  order  to  administer  “ - 


Coronation  in  Thebes 

27,  [Now,  when  many  days  had]‘  passed  by,  while  the  eldest  son 
of  Horus  was  chief  and  hereditary  prince  in  this  whole  land,  behold, 
this  august  god,  Horus,  lord  of  Alabastronpolis,  his  heart  desired  to 

establish  his  son  upon  his  eternal  throne,  and  [he]  commanded  *3 - 

of  the  — j  of  Amon.  Horus  proceeded  with  rejoicing  to  Thebes,  city 
of  the  lord  of  eternity,  (and  with)  his  son  in  his  embrace  to  Karnak,  to 
introduce  him  before  Amon,  to  assign  to  him  his  office  of  king,  to  pass 
his  life  (as  such).  Behold,  ^  fthey  earned  with  rejoijcing  at 

his  beautiful  feast  in  Luxor.  He^  saw  the  majesty  of  this  god,  Horus, 
lord  of  Alabastronpolis,  his  son  being  with  him  as  king,  introduced  in 


•Thoth.  *>Lit.,  part  of**  cAbout  one-quarter  line. 
dThe  feminine  pronoun  in  this  passage  refers  to  ** usage**  (1.  8). 

•Compare  the  duties  of  the  vizier,  Rekhmire,  {  692,  1.  22,  and  §  706,  1.  29. 
^Or  only  the  suffix,  **his.**  8 A  greeting  accorded  only  to  royalty. 

hLit.,  “<>/  that  which  the  god  gives.** 

'The  phrase  so  common  in  the  folk-tales. 

iBirch  has  **  house,”  but  it  is  not  to  be  gotten  from  his  text. 

^'About  one-eighth  line.  *Amon. 


§29] 


CORONATION  INSCRIPTION 


17 


order  to  give  to  him®  his  office  and  his  throne.  Behold,  Amon-Re  was 
filled^  with  joy  when  he  saw  *s[rhini  coming"*]  on  the  day  of  giving  his 
offerings.  Then  he  presented  himself  to  this  prince,  the  hereditary 
prince,  head  (/tr-d ^  d^)  of  the  Two  Lands,  Harmhab. 

Marriage  to  Mutnezmet 

28.  He  proceeded  to  the  palace,  he  brought  him  before  him  to  the 

shrine^  of  his  revered  eldest  daughter  - .  [JShe  did^  obeisance 

to  him,  she  embraced  his  beauty,  and  placed  herself  before  him. 

Rejoicing  0}  the  Gods 

The  gods,  the  lords  of  the  *"fire-chamberi  were  in  exultation  because 
of  his  coronation;  Nekhbet,  Buto,  Neit,  Isis,  Nephthys,  Horus,  Set,  all 
the  ennead  of  gods  who  preside  over  the  great  throne  ^’lifted  praises  to 
the  height  of  heaven,  rejoicing  at  the  satisfaction  of  Amon:  “Behold, 
Amon  hath  come,  his  son  before  him,  to  the  palace,  to  set  his  crown  upon 
his  head,  to  lengthen  his  whole  life.  We  have  gathered  together,  that 
we  might  establish  for  him  — .  Let  us  count  for  him  the  adornments^ 
of  Re;  let  us  praise  Amon  on  his  behalf:  “Thou  hast  brought  to  us 
our  protector;  grant  to  him  the  royal  jubilees  of  Re,  the  years  of 
Horus  as  king;  for  it  is  he  who  shall  satisfy  thy  heart  in  the  midst  of 
Karnak,  likewise  Heliopolis  and  Memphis;  it  is  he  who  shall  make 
them  s^endid.” 

The  Gods  Fix  the  Titulary 

29.  *^>Let  the  great  name  of  this  Good  God,  and  his  titulary  be  made 
like  (that  of)  the  majesty  of  Re,  as  follows: 

1.  Horus:  Mighty  Bull,  Ready  in  Plans; 

2.  Favorite  of  the  Two  Goddesses;  Great  in  Marvels  in  Karnak; 

3.  Golden  Horus:  Satisfied  with  Truth,  Creator  of  the  Two  Lands; 

4.  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Zescrkheprure,  Setepnere: 

5.  Son  of  Re:  Mernamon,  Harmhab,  given  life. 


®The  ambiguity  of  the  pronouns  in  this  and  following  sentences  is  also  in  the 
original. 

*^Lit.,  permeated,'* 

^Pr-wr.  There  was,  therefore,  a  shrine  or  chapel  of  the  Divine  Consort**  in 
the  king’s  palace. 

<*Which  Re  once  wore  as  King  of  Egypt. 


i8  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB  [§30 


Festival  in  Luxor 

30.  Then  came  forth  to  the  in  the  palace  the  majesty  of 

this  august  god,  Amon,  king  of  gods,  his  son  being  before  him.  He 
embraced  his  beauty  crowned  with  the  royal  helmet,  in  order  to  assign 
to  him  the  circuit  of  the  sun.®  The  Nine  Bows  are  beneath  his  feet. 
Heaven  is  in  festivity,  earth  hath  joy.  The  ennead  of  gods  of  Egypt, 
their  hearts  are  happy.  **  Behold,  all  the  land  was  in  joy,  they  cried 
out  to  heaven;  great  and  small,  they  took  up  the  jubilation;  the  whole 
land  was  rejoicing.  After  the  completion  of  this  feast  in  Luxor,  Amon, 
king  of  gods,  returned  in  peace  to  **Thebes^  S  t). 

Restoration  of  the  Temples 

31.  His  majesty  sailed  down-stream  as  the  image  of  Harakhte. 
Behold,  he  organized  this  land;  he  adjusted  according  to  the  time  of  Re. 
He  restored  the  temples  (from)  the  pools  of  the  marshes^  to  Nubia 

/).  He  shaped  all  their  images  ^^^in  number^  more  than  before, 
increasing  the  beauty  in  that  which  he  made.  Re  rejoiced  when  he 
saw  them,  which  had  been  found  ruined  aforetime.  He  raised  up  their 
temples.  He  fashioned  100  images  with  all  (their)  bodies  correct,  and 
with  all  splendid  costly  stones.  ^-♦He  sought  the  precincts*^  of  the  gods, 
which  were  in  the  districts  in  this  land;  he  furnished  them  as  they  had 
been  since  the  time  of  the  first  beginning.  He  established  for  them  a 
daily  offering  every  day;  all  the  vessels  of  their  temples  *5 were  wrought 
of  silver  and  gold.  He  equipped  them  with  priests  {w^h'w),  with 
ritual  priests,  and  with  the  choicest  of  the  army.  He  transferred  to 
them  lands  and  cattle,  supplied  with  all  equipment. 

Prayer  for  the  King 

32.  They  rise  early  to  sing  to  Re  in  the  morning  »^every  day:  “May- 
est  thou  exalt  ®for  us®  the  kingdom  of  thy  son  who  satisfies  thy  heart, 
Zeserkheprure,  Setepnere  (Harmhab).  Mayest  thou  give  to  him  a 


*Aton. 

'^The  palace  was  therefore  at  Luxor;  the  god  has  been  at  Luxor  during  the 
feast;  he  went  in  procession  to  the  palace,  and  now  returns  from  Luxor  to  Karnak. 

cin  the  Delta;  hence,  from  the  Delta  to  Nubia.  These  temples  had  been 
neglected  since  the  reform  of  Amenhotep  IV. 

^This  rare  word  {b^k^y’t)  will  be  found  applied  to  the  sacred  precinct  of 
the  cemetery  at  Abydos  (Mariette,  Abydos,  I,  PI.  19,  e). 

«Birch  has  m  (for  »n),  but  as  he  also  renders  **  for  usp  it  shows  clearly  that  he 
never  revised  Bonomi's  text  of  the  inscription  for  publication. 


532C]  GRAFFITI  IN  THE  THEBAN  NECROPOLIS 


19 


myriad  of  royal  jubilees,  and  cause  him  to  be  victorious  over  all  lands, 
like  Har-si-ese,  according  as  he  satisfied  thy  heart  in  Heliopolis,  united 
with  thy  divine  ennead.” 


GRAFFITI  IN  THE  THEBAN  NECROPOLIS* 

32 A.  The  significance  of  these  grafiiti  does  not  consist 
alone  in  the  light  which  they  throw  upon  the  history  of  the 
robbery  of  the  royal  tombs  at  Thebes,  showing  that  then- 
violation  began  at  least  two  centuries  earlier  than  we  had 
supposed;  but  they  reveal  to  us  also  the  state  of  anarchy 
which  followed  the  religious  revolution  of  Ikhnaton.  It  is 
only  at  that  time  that  such  an  act  could  have  taken  place  at 
Thebes,  and  we  thus  discern  the  turbulent  conditions  from 
which  Harmhab  rescued  the  country. 

32B.  Year  8,  third  month  of  the  first  season  (third  month),  day  i, 
under  the  majesty  of  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Zeserkhep- 
rure-Setepnere,  Son  of  Re,  Harmhab-Mernamon. 

Command  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  to  commission  the  fan-bearer  on 
the  ki^’s  right  hand,  king’s-scribe,  overseer  of  the  treasury,  chief  of 
works  in  the  “Eternal  Seat”  (necropolis),  leader  of  the  feast(s)  of  Amon 
in  Karnak,  Meya  (My^),  son  of  the  judge,  Yui  (Ywy)^  born  of  the 
matron,  Weret,  to  restore  the  burial  of  King  Menkheprure  (Mn-f^prw- 
R^y  Thutmose  IV),  triumphant,  in  the  august  house^  on  the  west  of 
Thebes. 

32C.  Beneath  is  the  name  of  Meya^s  assistant  and  the 
latter’s  parents; 

His  assistant,  steward  of  the  Southern  City  (Thebes),  Thutmose,  son 
of  Hatey  t-y^y).  His  mother,  Yuh  (Ywh),  of  the  City  (Thebes). 


^Written  with  ink  on  the  wall  of  one  of  the  lower  chambers  in  the  tomb  of 
Thutmose  IV  in  the  Valley  of  the  Kings’  Tombs  at  Thebes;  published  in  The 
Tomb  of  Thutmose  JV  (Mr.  Theodore  M.  Davis’  excavations),  by  Carter  and 
Newberry,  London,  1904,  pp.  xxxiii-iv.  Figs.  7  and  8. 
l»His  tomb. 


20 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[$33 


THE  WARS  OF  HARMHAB 

33.  Very  little  is  recorded  of  Harmhab’s  relations  with 
the  foreign  world.  The  scattered  references  on  the  surviving 
monuments  are  gathered  here,  recording  his  wars:  I,  in  the 
North  (§§34-36);  II,  in  the  South  (§§37-44)- 

I.  IN  THE  NORTH 

34.  The  character  and  extent  of  these  wars  are  very  un¬ 
certain.  The  only  sources  are :  (i)  a  list®  of  names,  of  which 
remains  of  eleven  are  preserved,  among  which  appears 
Kheta;  and  (2)  a  relief  '^showing  Harmhab  leading  three 
lines  of  captives  and  presenting  them  to  Amon,  Mut,  and 
Khonsu.  The  costumes  of  the  captives  and  their  physiog¬ 
nomy  indicate  Asiatics.  The  inscription®  with  the  middle** 
row  is  as  follows: 

35.  The  wretched  princes  of  the  Haunebu;  [they  say:  “Hail  to]  thee! 
Thy  name  has  encircled  the  two  ends  of  the  earth,  among  all  lands; 
every  land  fears  because  of  thy  fame;  thy  fear  is  in  their  heart.” 

36.  The  lower  row  has  the  following: 

The  wretched  princes  of  — ;  [they]  say:  “Hail  to  thee!  like  the 

great - ;  [fear]  has  entered  into  their  bodies,  terror  is  in  their 

hearts.” 

II.  IN  THE  SOUTH 

37.  An  expedition  to  Punt,  probably  of  a  peaceful  nature, 
is  recorded  on  the  wall  connecting  Harmhab’s  two  Karnak 
pylons.®  A  relief  shows  the  king  at  the  right,  holding 


*^On  the  north  side  of  Karnak  Pylon  XI;  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives, 
II,  178,  and  Recueily  XVI,  42.  See  Muller,  Mittheilungen  der  Vorderasiatischen 
Gesellschafty  1897,  III,  276^78. 

^Recueil,  XVI,  42  f. 

cPublished  also  by  Wiedemann,  Proceedings  oj  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archa- 
ologyy  XI,  423. 

^That  of  the  upper  row  is  lost. 

®Relief  and  inscriptions  on  the  inside  (west  side)  of  the  wall  north  of  the  door 
in  the  middle. 


THE  WARS  OF  HARMHAB 


31 


I  41] 


audience,  receiving  the  chiefs  of  Punt  approaching  from  the 
left,  bearing  sacks  of  gold  dust,  ostrich  feathers,  etc.*  Their 
words  are  given  in  an  accompanying  inscription'*  as  follows: 

38.  Speech  of  the  great  chiefs  of  Punt:  “  Hail  to  thee,  King  of  Egypt, 
Sun  of  the  Nine  Bows!  By  thy  ka!  We  knew  not  Egypt;  our  fathers 
had  not  trodden  it.  Give  us  the  breath  which  thou  givest.  All  lands 
are  under  thy  feet.” 

39.  Another  scene®  represents  Harmhab  presenting  the 
newly  acquired  products  of  Punt  to  Amon,  as  indicated  in 
the  accompanying  inscription: 

Bringing  the  tribute,  by  his  majesty,  to  his  father  Amon;  being  the 

tribute  of  Punt.  “ - by  thy  victorious  might.  Thou  hast  set 

their  chiefs  in  tumult,  because  of  thy  terror - bearing  all  their 

tribute  upon  their  backs.  Great  is  thy  might  in  every  country.” 

40.  A  campaign  in  Kush  is  recorded  in  a  series  of  superb 
reliefs  in  the  temple  which  the  king  had  cut  in  the  rocks  at 
Silsileh. 

Scene^ 

4\.  The  king,  accompanied  by  a  fan-bearer  and  two 
sunshade-bearers,  is  seated  on  his  throne,  which  is  borne 
upon  the  shoulders  of  six  soldiers.  Before  him  march  a 
priest  offering  incense,  the  Negro  captives,  and  three  lines 
of  soldiers,  whose  trumpeter  blows  a  fanfare  in  salutation 
of  the  king. 


®Only  the  line  of  Puntite  chiefs  is  published  (Mariettc,  Monuments  diver Sy  88). 

'^Mariette,  Monuments  diver Sy  88;  Brugsch,  RecueU  de  monumentSy  II,  57,  3  — 
RecueUy  XVII,  43. 

^Nowhere  published;  Wiedemann  {Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archceologyy  XI,  424)  says:  “a  fragment  lying  quite  near  the  wall  alludes  to  them 
[Harmhab’s  victories],  showing  flowers  and  other  gifts.”  He  then  adds  the  lower 
ends  of  the  inscription  long  ago  published,  Champollion,  Notices  descriptiveSy  II, 
180,  but  without  comment.  It  is  translated  above,  §  39. 

^An  address  of  Amon  to  the  king  begins  in  the  lacuna. 

«Lepsius,  Denkmdlery  III,  12 1,  a-h. 


22 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§42 


Words  of  the  Bearers 

42.  “All  health  is  with  thee,  O  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands!  Re  is 
the  protection  of  thy  limbs.** 

Description  of  the  Scene 

The  Good  God  comes,  he  triumphs  over  the  princes  of  every  country. 
His  bow  is  in  his  hand  like  the  lord  of  Thebes  (Montu),  puissant  king, 
mighty  in  strength,  who  carries  away  the  princes  of  wretched  Kush, 
King  Zeserkheprure  (Harmhab),®  given  life.  His  majesty  came  from 
the  land  of  Kush,  with  the  captives  which  his  sword  had  made,  accord¬ 
ing  as  his  father  Amon  commanded  him. 

Scene^ 

43.  The  king  stands  before  Amon,  both  grasping  a  wand 
between  them. 

Inscription:  Words  of  Amon 

I  have  given  to  thee  triumph  over  the  South,  victory  over  the  North. 

Scene^ 

44.  A  line  of  Negro  captives  advancing  toward  the  first 
scene. 

Words  of  the  Negroes  * 

“Hail  to  thee.  King  of  Egypt,  Sun  of  the  Nine  Bows!  Thy  name  is 
great  in  the  land  of  Kush,  thy  battle-cry  is  in  their  abodes.  It  is  thy 
might,  O  good  ruler,  that  makes  the  countries  into  heaps,  O  Pharaoh, 
L.  P.  H.l  Thou  Sun!” 


EDICT  OF  HARMHAB^ 

45.  This  is  the  most  important  edict  which  has  come 
down  to  us  from  ancient  Egypt,  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted 


®Usual  double  name  and  titles. 

'>Below  at  the  left,  Lepsius,  Denkmaler^  III,  20,  b. 
cBelow  at  the  right;  Lepsius,  Denkmiiler,  III,  120,  a. 

large  stela  discovered  by  Maspero  in  February  or  March,  1882.  It  is,  or 
when  complete  was,  about  five  meters  high  by  three  wide,  and  stands  against  one 


S473 


EDICT  OF  HARMHAB 


23 


that  its  very  fragmentary  state,  together  with  the  execrable 
manner  in  which  it  has  been  published,  has  deprived  us  of 
so  many  of  its  important  data. 

The  edict  contains  the  practical  legislation  of  Harmhab 
by  means  of  which  he  intended  to  prevent  the  oppressive 
abuses  connected  with  the  collection  of  taxes  from  the  com¬ 
mon  people,  who  were  continually  robbed  and  impoverished 
by  the  fiscal  officers.  This  legislation  consists  of  a  series  of 
enactments,  each  of  the  following  form: 

a)  Statement  of  the  abuse  as  it  existed  before  this  legis¬ 
lation  and  the  king’s  displeasure  at  it. 

b)  Statement  of  a  hypothetical  commission  of  the  offense 
by  the  officials  concerned. 

c)  Declaration  of  the  penalty  to  be  infficted. 

46.  A  very  interesting  question  is  whether  these  enact¬ 
ments  have  preserved  on  the  stela  the  form  and  language  of 
the  original  edict  in  the  royal  archives.  It  seems  probable 
that,  beginning  with  1.  13  (§50),  we  have  the  ipsissima 
verba^oi  the  original  document,  and  that  it  continued  to 
and  included  1.  2  (§62),  although  Muller  is  doubtful  on 
this  point.* 

47.  The  content  of  the  entire  inscription  is  as  follows: 


of  the  pylons  of  Harmhab  at  Karnak.  Over  a  third  of  the  stone  has  broken  off. 
The  inscription  occupies  the  face  and  the  side  edges.  It  has  been  copied  and  pub¬ 
lished  very  inaccurately  by  Bouriant,  Recmil,  VI,  41  ff.;  important  corrections, 
which  unfortunately  include  only  part  of  the  inscription,  by  Piehl,  Zeitschri}t  filr 
dgyptische  Sprache,  18815,  86  f.;  see  also  Revue  egypiologiquey  VIII,  106-9.  I  am 
greatly  indebted  to  my  friend,  Mr.  A.  H.  Gardiner,  for  a  careful  copy  of  the  original 
on  the  spot.  His  copy  corrects  the  incredibly  numerous  errors  of  Bouriant's  publi¬ 
cation,  and  fills  out  many  of  the  lacunae  therein,  though  the  stone  shows  loss  since 
Bouriant^s  copy.  Some  fragments  still  surviving  when  Bouriant  made  his  copy, 
Mr.  Gardiner  states,  are  now  missing  entirely.  An  exhaustive  study  by  Miiller, 
with  translation  and  notes,  in  Zeitschrijt  filr  Hgyptische  Sprache^  1888,  70-94. 
The  present  translation  owes  much  to  Muller,  for  which  I  make  general  acknowl¬ 
edgment  here. 

•’Zeitschrijt  filr  dgyptische  Sprocket  1888,  75. 


24 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


t§47 


Front 

Above  was  an  adoration  scene,®  showing  Harmhab  wor¬ 
shiping  before  Amon. 

I.  Introduction  (11.  i-io,  §  49). 

II.  Introduction:  the  king’s  zeal  for  the  relief  of  the 
people  (11.  10-14,  §  50). 

III.  Enactment  against  robbing  the  poor  of  dues  for  the 
royal  breweries  and  kitchens  (11.  14-17,  §51). 

IV.  Enactment  against  robbing  the  poor  of  wood  due 
the  Pharaoh  (11.  17,  18,  §  52). 

V.  Enactment  against  exacting  dues  from  a  poor  man 
thus  robbed  (11.  18-20,  §  53). 

VI.  Enactment  against  robbing  the  poor  of  dues  for  the 
harem  or  the  gods  by  the  soldiers  (11.  20-22,  §  54). 

VII.  Enactment  against  unlawful  appropriation  of  slave 
service  (11.  22-24,  §  SS)- 

VIII.  Enactment  against  stealing  of  hides  by  the  soldiers 
(11.  25-28,  §§  56,  57). 

IX.  Enactment  against  connivance  of  dishonest  inspec¬ 
tors  with  thievish  tax-collectors  for  a  share  of  the  booty  (11. 
28-32,  §  58). 

X.  Enactment  against  stealing  vegetables  under  pre¬ 
tense  of  collecting  taxes  (11.  32-35,  §  59). 

XI.  Enactments  too  fragmentary  for  analysis  (11.  35-39; 
right  side,  11.  i,  2,  §§  60-62). 

XII.  Narrative  of  the  king’s  reforms,  containing  also  an 
enactment  against  corrupt  judges  (11.  3-7,  §§  63-65). 

XIII.  Narrative  of  the  king’s  monthly  audiences  and 
largesses  (11.  7-10,  §  66). 

XIV.  Laudation  of  the  king,  and  conclusion  (left  side,  §  67). 


*Very  fragmentary;  it  is  the  only  source  from  which  we  gain  the  name  of  the 
king  who  issued  the  edict;  PL,  Recueily  VI.  Mr.  Gardiner  states  that  it  is  now 
missing. 


EDICT  OF  HARMHAB 


§50] 


2$ 


48.  In  the  translation  it  has  been  necessary  to  indicate 
the  connection  between  the  beginnings  of  the  lines,  a  large 
portion  of  the  ends  having  been  lost.^  These  connecting 
insertions  contain  only  what  was  probably  the  intervening 
thought,  without  any  attempt  to  reproduce  the  lost  words.  ^ 

I.  INTRODUCTION 

49.  " . . "" 

II.  introduction:  the  king’s  zeal  for  the  relief  of 

THE  PEOPLE  (lL.  IO-I4) 

50.  His  majesty  took  counsel  with  his  heart  [Qiow  he  might 

- ^  "[expjel  evil  and  suppress  lying.  The  plans  of  his  majesty 

were  an  excellent  refuge,®  repelling  violence  behind - ^  fand 

delivering  the  Egyptians  from  ”^the  oppressions^  ]  which  were  among 
them.  Behold,  his  majesty  spent  the  whole  time  seeking  the  welfare 
of  Egypt  and  searching  out  instances  ^[of  oppression  in  the  land].® 

- ^  fcame  the  scribe"*]  ^^of  his  majesty.  Then  he  seized  palette 

and  roll;  he  put  it  into  writing  according  to  all  that  his  majesty,  the 
king  himself  said.  He  spoke  as  follows:  ‘^[My  majesty]  commands 
- f concerning  alP]  ‘^instances  of  oppression  in  the  land. 


»Botiriant  says:  “Dcs  ligncs  visibles  aujourd’hui  les  quatre  premieres  ne  pr€- 
sentent  plus  que  quelques  signes  trfes  mutil^s  el  ne  pouvant  fournir  aucun  sens; 
les  vingt-dcux  suivantes  ont  perdu  environ  les  deux  tiers  de  leur  longueur  primitive, 
quelques-unes  mtoe  ont 'perdu  plus  encore.  A  partir  de  la  vingt-sixibme,  les  ligncs 

gagnent  en  longueur  mais  elles  sont  couples  de  lacunes  fr^quentes . ”  This 

is  verified  by  Mr.  Gardiner’s  scale  copy.  After  1.  31  they  rapidly  decrease  in  length, 
and  become  so  fragmentary  that  a  coherent  rendering  is  impossible. 

*^They  often  follow  Muller,  but  I  have  carefully  verified  his  conclusions  in 
every  case. 

cSee  Bouriant’s  remark  above  (note  a);  the  lines  contained  the  usual  eulo¬ 
gistic  introduction  with  names  and  titles  of  the  king.  Its  length,  one-fourth  of  the 
entire  inscription,  is  unusual. 

About  two-thirds  of  a  line. 

«Samc  phrase  applied  to  Amenhotep  III  (II,  916,  1.  35). 

^Muller  inserts  here  a  fragment  containing  the  ends  of  three  lines,  which 
should  conclude  11.  ii,  12,  and  13.  These  ends  fit  13  very  well,  ii  fairly,  and  12 
not  at  all;  for  some  reason  Muller  has  ignored  the  end  of  1.  12,  or  it  would  have 
been  apparent  that  the  alleged  fragment  of  the  end  of  1. 12  does  not  connect  with 
the  beginning  of  1.  13. 

^Restored  from  1.  14. 


26 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§Si 


m.  ENACTMENT  AGAINST  ROBBING  THE  POOR  OF  DUES  FOR 
THE  ROYAL  BREWERIES  AND  KITCHENS  (LL.  14-17) 

51.  If  the  poor  man  made  for  himself  a  craft  with  its  sail,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  serve  the  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  [^loading  it  with  the  dues  for 
the  breweries  and  kitchens  of  the  Pharaoh,  and  he  was  robbed  of  the 
craft  and^]  *sthe  dues,  the  poor  man  stood  reft  of  his  goods  and  stripped 
of  his  many  Haborsi.  fThis  is  wrong,  and  the  Pharaoh  will  suppress 
it  byl]  ^‘^his  excellent  measures.  If  there  be^  a  fpoor  mani]  who  pays 
the  dues  of  the  breweries  and  kitchens  of  the  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  ^to  the 
two^  deputies,  fand  he  be  robbed  of  his  goods  and  his  craft,  my  majesty 
commands:  that  every  officer  who  seizeth  the  dues^]  ^’and  taketh  the 
craft  of  any  citizen  nj^)  of  the  army  or  of  any  person  who  is  in  the  whole 
land,  the  law  shall  be  executed  against  him,  in  that  his  nose  shall  be 
cut  off,  and  he  shall  be  sent  to  Tha[ru].^ 

IV.  AGAINST  ROBBING  THE  POOR  OF  WOOD  DUE  THE 

PHARAOH  (LL.  17,  18) 

52.  ^Furthermore,  concerning  the  impost  of  wood,  my  majesty 
commands  that  if  any  officer  find"*]  *®a  poor  man  without  a  craft,  then 
let  him  bring  to  him  a  craft  for  his  impost  from  another,  and  let  him 
send  him  to  bring  for  him  the  wood;  thus  hc^  shall  serve  [the  Pharaoh], 

V.  AGAINST  EXACTING  DUES  FROM  A  POOR  MAN  THUS 

ROBBED  (LL.  1 8-20) 

53.  ^Furthermore,  my  majesty  commands  that  if  any  poor  man 

be  oppressed  by^]  [robbejry,  ^^his  cargo  be  emptied  by  theft  of  them, 
and  the  poor  man  stand  reft  of  hi[s  goodjs,  fno  further  exactions  for 
dues  shall  be  made  from  him^J  *®when  he  has  nothing.  For  it  is  not 
good,  this  report  of  very  great  injustice.  My  majesty  commands  that 
restitution  be  made  to  him;  behold, - . 


aText  has  ** stand" 

'^This  is  a  remarkable  corroboration  of  Strabo,  who  mentions  Rhinocolura  as 
“so  called  from  the  colonists,  whose  noses  had  been  mutilated.  Some  Ethiopian 
invaded  Egypt  and,  instead  of  putting  the  malefactors  to  death,  cut  off  their  noses 

and  settled  them  at  Rhinocolura . ”  (XVI,  II,  §  31;  translation  of  Hamilton 

and  Falconer,  III,  176).  See  also  Herodotus,  II,  137,  and  Diodorus,  I,  60  and  65; 
and  Muller,  Zeitschrift  fiir  dgyptische  Sprocket  1888,  81. 
cThe  ambiguity  of  the  pronouns  is  also  in  the  original. 


EDICT  OF  HARMHAB 


27 


§56] 


VI.  AGAINST  ROBBING  THE  POOR  OF  DUES  FOR  THE  HAREM 
OR  THE  GODS  BY  THE  SOLDIERS  (LL.  20~22) 

54.  ^Furthermore,  as  for  those  who"*]  -  **and  those  who 

bring  to  the  harem,  likewise  for  the  offerings  of  all  gods,  paying  dues 

to  the  *^two^  deputies  of  the  army  and -  fmy  majesty  commands 

that  if  any  officer  is  guilty  of  extortions  or  thefts^],  ®*the  law  [shall  be 
executed]  against  him,  in  that  his  nose*  shall  be  cut  off,  and  (he)  shall 
be  sent  to  Tharu  \T  ^  -rw\  likewise. 

VII.  AGAINST  UNLAWFUL  APPROPRIATION  OF  SLAVE 
SERVICE  (lL.  22-24) 

55.  When  the  officers  {sdm'w)  of  the  Pharaoh’s  house  of  offerings 
have  gone  about  tax-collecting  in  the  towns,  to  take  [katha 

plant],  fthey  have  seized  the  slaves  of  the  people,  and  kept  them  at 
work"*]  *3for  6  days  or  7  days,  without  one’s  being  able  to  depart  from 
them  ^afar^,  so  that  it  was  an  excessive  detention  indeed.  It  shall  be 
done  likewise^  ^against  theml  If  there  be  any  place  fwhere  the 
stewards  shall  be  tax-collecting,  and  any  one”*]  ^^shall  hear,  saying: 
‘‘They  are  tax-collecting,  to  take  katha-plant  *‘for  themselves,’”  and 
another  shall  come  to  report,  saying:  “My  man  slave  (or)  my  female 
slave  has  been  taken  away  fand  detained  many  days  at  work  by  the 
stewards;”  it  shall  be  done  likewise  against  them’]. 

VIII.  AGAINST  STEALING  OF  HIDES  BY  THE  SOLDIERS 

(ll.  25-28) 

56.  *5The  two  divisions^  of  troops  which  are  in  the  field,  one  in  the 
southern  region,  the  other  in  the  northern  region,  stole  hides  in  the 
whole  land,  not  passing  a  year,  without  applying  the  ^brand’^  of  fthe 


^See  note  on  1.  17. 

'^The  same  punishment  inflicted  as  in  §§51  and  54;  this  is  not  the  place  for 
the  penalty,  which  heretofore  has  followed,  not  after  the  narrative  of  the  crime,  but 
after  a  second,  hypothetical  statement  of  the  crime.  It  is  therefore  anticipatory, 
and  hence  the  full  statement  of  the  penalty,  as  in  §§51  and  54,  may  have  been 
repeated  in  the  lacuna  at  the  end. 

cThis  important  statement  defines  the  two  great  divisions  of  the  army,  and 
shows  that  Herodotus’  division  of  the  Egyptian  army  of  his  time  into  Kalasiries 
and  Hermotybies  is  not  a  late  arrangement.  See  Muller,  ZeUschrijt  filr  dgyptische 
SprachCf  1888,  82-84,  and  Wiedemann,  Herodots  Zweites  Buchf  573-77. 

^Text  has  **fire*^ 


28 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§57 


royal  house  to  cattle  which  were  not  due  to  them,  thereby  increasing’] 
^^•"their’  number,  and  stealing  that  which  was  stamped  from  them.  They 
went  out  from  house  to  house,  beating  and  i^plundering’  without  leaving 

a  hide  for  fthe  people - .  Then  the  officer’]  of  Pharaoh  went 

about  ^to  each  one,’  fto  collect  the  hides  charged  against  him.  and  came 
to  the  people  demanding’]  ^^rthem’,  but  the  hides  were  not  found  with 
them  (^although’)  the  ^amount  charged’  against  them  could  be  estab¬ 
lished.  They  satisfied  them,®  saying:  ‘‘They  have  been  stolen  from 
us.^^  A  wretched  case  is  this,  ^therefore’  it  shall  be  [done]  likewise.^ 

57.  When  the  overseer  of  the  cattle  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  goes  about 
to  attend  to  the  loan-herds‘^  in  the  whole  land,  and  there  be  not  brought 
to  him  the  hides  of  the  — ^  which  are  on  the  *^lists’,®  fhe  shall  not  hold 
the  people  responsible  for  the  hides  if  they  have  them  not,  but  they  shall 
be  released  by  command  of  his  majesty,’]  "‘^according  to  his  just  pur¬ 
poses.^  As  for  any  citizen  ntf)  of  the  army,  (concerning)  whom  one 
shall  hear,  saying:  “He  goeth  about  stealing  hides,*'  beginning  with 
this  day,  the  law  shall  be  executed  against  him,  by  beating  him  a  hun¬ 
dred  blows,  opening  five  wounds,  and  taking  from  him  by  force  the 
hides  which  he  took.* 

IX.  AGAINST  CONNIVANCE  OF  DISHONEST  INSPECTORS  WITH 
THIEVISH  TAX-COLLECTORS,  FOR  A  SHARE  OF  THE 
BOOTY  (lL.  28-32) 

58.  Now,  as  for  this  other  instance  of  evil  which  the  fofficial  staff  ^ 
were  accustomed  to  commit,  when  they  held  inspection’]*  in  the  land,  of 
that  which  happened*  f against  the  law’],  [the  table-scribe  of]  ^^the 
queen  and  the  table-scribe  of  the  harem  went  about  after  the  official  staff. 


•The  officers,  here  pluralized. 

’^The  same  punishment  inflicted  as  in  §§51  and  54. 

«Herds’'of  the  Pharaoh  which  were  contracted  to  be  maintained  by  private 
individuals;  see  also  Ameni  (I,  522,  U.  16,  17;  cf.  Muller,  Zeitschrift  jiir  dgyptische 
Sprache,  1888,  85  86). 

‘^Only  the  determinative  of  the  fallen  enemy  or  criminal  is  preserved. 

•Only  an  r  is  visible;  perhaps  to  be  read 

^he  meaning  probably  is  that  the  cattle  loaned  on  contract  by  the  Pharaoh 
sometimes  died,  in  which  case  the  people  must  show  the  hides.  These  the  corrupt 
officials  often  stole  before  the  overseer  of  cattle  arrived. 

sLit.,  ** thievisMy but  see  Spiegelbcrg,  Studien^  68. 

Tragmcnt  placed  by  Muller. 


EDICT  OF  HARMHAB 


29 


559] 


punishing®  them  and  investigating  the  ^’affair^^ - of  the  one  who 

sailed  down-  or  up-river.  One  investigated  it  among  the  officials  in  the 
time  of  the  King  Menkheperre  (Thutmose  III).®  Now,  when  the  one 
who  sailed  down-  or  up-river  whom  they  took;  and  when  fthe  superior 
officials  ofij  [the  king],^  Menkheperre,  went  about^  f after  these 
officials'*]  ^oTeach  year,’  f  that  they  might  make  an’]  expedition  to  the 
tcity,"*  and  that  these  superior  officials  might  come  to  these  officials, 
saying:  “Give  thou  [to  us]  the  consideration  for  the  careless  expedi¬ 
tion;”®  then,  behold,  the  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  made  the  expedition  at 
the  feast  of  Opet^  each  year  without  carelessness.  One  prepared  the 
way  before  the  Pharaoh  fand  questioned  the  local  magistrate,  wherever 

he’]  landed,*^  f concerning  the  3 ^corrupt  official’]  causing  him  to  ^ - 

what  he  (the  corrupt  official)  was  like.  As  for  the  one  who  goes  about 

again,  afterward,  to  seek  the  consideration - ,  then  these  officials 

shall  go  about  with  the  expedition*  concerning  the  affairs  of  these  poor 

people  -  3  a - h  majesty  commands  to  prevent 

that  one  shall  do  thus,  beginning  with  this  day - ‘  the  landing; 

he  is  the  one  against  whom  one  shall  prosecute  it. 

X.  AGAINST  STEALING  VEGETABLES  UNDER  PRETENSE  OF 
COLLECTING  TAXES  (lL.  32-35) 

59.  Likewise  the  ^collection’  of  vegetables  for  the  breweries  [and 

kitchens  of  the  Pharaoh  and] - fExtortion  was  practiced,  33and 

the  officials  plundered’]  the  poor,  taking  the  best  of  their  vegetables, 
saying:  “They  are  for  the  impost  [of  the  Pharaoh].”  [Thus  they] 
robbed  the  poor  of  their  Habors,®  so  that  a  double  fimpost  was  levied. 
Now,  my  majesty  commands  that  as  for  any  officials  who  come  to’] 
collect  vegetables  [for]  the  impost  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  in  the 


•Read  and  see  Gardiner,  Inscription  of  Mes,  21,  note  59;  also  p.  40. 
'^Muller  supplies  nktj  ^'affair^**  which  is  exceedingly  probable. 
cThe  following  is  a  description  of  the  conditions  under  Thutmose  III. 
^Fragment. 

«The  meaning  is:  “We  have  gone  about  carelessly,  intentionally  overlooking 
your  extortions;  now  divide  with  us.” 

^Early  in  October,  when  he  had  returned  from  the  summer’s  campaign  in 
Syria  (see  II,  409,  410). 

sMeaning  perhaps  the  expedition  of  the  king,  thus  preventing  collusion. 
^About  ten  or  twelve  words.  ‘Eight  or  ten  words. 


30 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§6o 


arbors,®  and  the  —  houses  of  the  estates  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  and 
the  —  of  Pharaoh  which  contain  vegetables,^  (concerning  whom*^)  one 
shall  hear,  saying:  “They  —  for  any  ^ of  any  citizen  nff)  of  the 
army,  or  [any]  people,  [beginning  with  this  day,  the  law  shall  be  exe¬ 
cuted  against  them]® - 35 - transgressing  commands. 

XI.  ENACTMENTS  TOO  FRAGMENTARY  FOR  ANALYSIS  (LL. 

35-39,  AND  RIGHT  SIDE,  LL.  I  AND  2) 

60.  The  fragmentary  condition  of  11.  35-39  makes  any 
coherent  rendering  impossible.  They  contain,  however,  a 
new  enactment  of  the  greatest  interest  regarding  taxation 
of  grain,  in  which  there  is  an  apparent  contrast  between 
the  property  owners,  or  citizens  of  the  city,  and  the  poor, 
thus: 

61  •  Now  as  for  these  officials  of  the  Hierds^,  who  go  about  ^ - ■ 

in  the  southern  region  or  the  northern  region  collecting  grain  from  the 

[citizens]^  of  the  city* . 36 . going  about . in  the 

southern  region  or  northern  region  collecting  .  .  .  .*  from  the  poor . ^ 

52.  “ - going  about  taking  possession  to  bring  every  citizen,! 

to  cause  them  to  see - (concerning  whom)  one  shall  hear,  (say¬ 
ing)  -  a  crime,  -  collectors  of  the  harem  who  go 

about  in  the  ftowns  tax-collecting^] - the  ^ ^  of  the  fishermen 

-  carrying  the -  . 


^Doubtless  to  be  read:  like  the  of  IV,  194,  264;  and  IV, 

1021. 

'^Vegetable  products  in  general  are  thus  designated. 

cThe  antecedent  is  officials*'  (end  of  1.  33);  see  1.  28. 

d Judging  from  1.  28,  one  would  expect:  “They  steal  vegetables,  etc.,”  but 
Mr.  Gardiner^s  copy  clearly  forbids. 

«After  1.  28.  ^The  following  context  shows  that  we  must  read  < 

sindications  of  measurements  are  given  here,  which  need  special  study. 

^Fragments  of  three  lines  more  are  visible. 

‘Proceeding  to  the  right  side  (miscalled  left  by  Bouriant).  This  text  is  so 
fragmentary  that  I  have  made  no  attempt  to  indicate  the  length  of  the  lost  portions, 
or  my  own  omissions. 

]Tw  3. 


§63] 


EDICT  OF  HARMHAB 


31 


XII.  NARRATIVES  OF  THE  KING’S  REFORMS,  CONTAINING 
ALSO  AN  ENACTMENT  AGAINST  CORRUPT  JUDGES 

(LL.  3-7) 

Appointment  of  Two  Judges 

63.  3l  have  improved  this  entire  land - I  have  sailed  it,  as 

far  as  south  of  the  wall,^  I  have  given - ,  I  have  learned  its  whole 

interior,  I  have  traveled  it  entirely  in  its  midst,^  I  have  searched  in 
- ^pand  I  have  sought  two  officials'*]^  perfect  in  speech,  excel¬ 
lent  in  good  qualities,  knowing  how  to  judge  the  innermost  heart, ^ 
hearing  the  words  of  the  palace,  the  laws  of  the  judgment-hall.  I 
have  appointed  them  to  judge  the  Two  Lands,  to  satisfy  those  who  are 

in - .  pi  have  given  to  each  one^]  his  seat;  I  have  set  them  in 

the  two  great  cities®  of  the  South  and  the  North;  every  laud  among  them 
cometh  to  him^  without  exception;  I  have  put  before  them  regulations 

in  the  daily  register  [of  the  palacep - sr - 1  I  have  directed 

[them]  to  the  way  of  life,  I  lead  them^  to  the  truth,  I  teach  them,^  saying: 
‘‘Do  not  associate  with  others  of  the  people;'  do  not  receive  the  reward 

of  another,  not  hearing - .  ^How,  then,  shall  those*  like  you 

judge  others,  while  there  is  one  among  you  committing  a  crime  against 
justice. 

Now,  as  to  the  obligation  of  silver  and  gold  —  ^ - [my]  majesty 

remits  it,  in  order  that  there  be  not  collected  an  obligation  of  anything 
from  the  official  staff  (knb’t)  of  the  South  and  North. i 


•Probably  not  a  reference  to  Ptah,  but  to  some  southern  limit  of  the  kingdom. 
'^See  similar  statements  by  Amenemhet  III  (I,  482,  11.  10,  ii). 
cThe  reference  to  (in  1.  4)  shows  that  there  were  but  two  of  these 

judges,  one  in  each  of  the  two  cities.  The  two  viziers  must  be  meant.  Mr.  Gar¬ 
diner,  however  {Inscription  of  Mes^  34),  regards  the  passage  as  referring  to  the 
two  great  courts  of  the  South  and  North  {knh' t 

^Lit.,  **th(U  which  is  in  the  body'*  (Coptic  mahtj  “viscera*’),  meaning  the 
thoughts  of  a  man. 

•Thebes  and  either  Memphis  or  Heliopolis,  probably  the  latter. 
fThat  is,  every  man  with  a  complaint  comes  for  redress  to  the  official  in  whose 
jurisdiction  he  lives. 

sRestored  from  Annals,(year  31,  11,  472,  I.  13).  J^Omitted  by  Muller. 
»Just  what  misdeed  is  implied  in  this  first  admonition  is  not  clear.  See  1.  35 
of  the  front,  and  Muller,  Zeitschriji  fur  dgyptische  Sprache^  1888,  92. 

JMuller  thinks  this  refers  to  a  percentage  paid  the  state  by  the  judges  from 
the  income  of  their  office.  (This  is  shown  to  be  a  fact  by  the  inscriptions  of  Rekh- 


32 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  HARMHAB 


[§64 


Punishment  0}  Bribery 

64.  Now,  as  for  any  official  or  any  priest  (concerning  whom)  it  shall 

be  heard,  saying:  “He  sits,  to  execute  judgment  among  the  official  staff 
{knh't)  appointed  for  judgment,  and  he  commits  a  crime  against  justice 
therein;”  it  shall  be  against  him  a  capital  crime.®  Behold,  my  majesty 
has  done  this,  to  improve  the  laws  of  Egypt,  in  order  to  cause  that 
another  should  not  be - - . 

Appointment  oj  Local  Courts 

65.  fBehold,  my  majesty  appointed^]  the  official  staff  {knh'  t)  of  the 
divine  fathers,  the  prophets  of  the  temples,  the  officials  {h  ^  tyw)  of  the 
court  {}j>nw)  of  this  land  and  the  priests  of  the  gods  who  comprise  the 
official  staff  {knh't)  out  of  desire  that  they  shall  judge  the  citizens 

nff^'w)  of  every  city.  My  majesty  is  legislating  for  Egypt,  to  prosper 
the  life  of  its  inhabitants;  when  he^^  appeared  upon  the  throne  of  Re. 
Behold,  the  official  staffs  {knh't)  have  been  appointed  in  the  whole  land 
—  all  —  to  comprise  the  official  staffs  {knh't)  in  the  cities  according  to 
their  rank. 

XIII.  THE  king’s  audiences  AND  LARGESSES  (lL.  7-10) 

55,  8 - They^  went  around  —  times  a  month,  rwhich"*  he 

*^made^  for  them  like  a  feast;  every  man  sat  down  at  a  portion  of  every 
good  thing,  of  good  bread,  and  meat  of  the  storehouses,  of  royal  pro¬ 
vision  - ;®  their  voices  reached  heaven,  praising  all  benefits  — 

the  heart  of  all  the  soldiers  of  the  army.  <>fThe  king  appeared  to  the 

people^  J - throwing  (gifts)  to  them  from  the  balcony^  while  every 

man  was  called  by  his  name  by  the  king  himself.  They  came  forth 
from  the  presence  rejoicing,  laden*  with  the  provision  of  the  royal 


mire,  II,  716  ff.)  Owing  to  the  strict  prohibition  of  bribery,  the  king  now  remits 
this  payment,  allowing  the  judges  to  keep  all  their  income  from  the  people. 

“Lit.,  **a  great  crime  of  deathP  ^See  Spiegelberg,  Studien^  50  f. 

cAs  the  king  is  Speaking,  the  first  person  is  to  be  expected  here. 

^These  must  be  the  inspecting  officials  who  are  thus  so  liberally  provided  for 
that  they  have  no  occasion  to  accept  bribes,  etc. 

*Five  or  six  broken  words. 

^The  palace  balcony;  cf.  Great  Karnak  Inscription  of  Merneptah  (§  587, 1.  48, 
and  note). 

ELit.,  **  victualed.” 


5il4l 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


SS 


from  the  great  stela  of  Amenhotep  III  recounting  his  build¬ 
ings  (II,  891,  892).  Seti  I  had  restored  this  splendid  stela 
after  its  defacement  by  Ikhnaton  (II,  878),  and  apparently 
at  its  restoration  it  was  found  to  be  so  pleasing  by  Seti  that 
he  appropriated  its  form  for  his  own  use,  but  with  many 
changes.  Seti’s  form  of  it  was  then  again  used  by  Ramses 
III  on  his  Medinet  Habu  temple  (IV,  137).  The  other 
part  of  Amon’s  discourse  (§117)  is  taken  from  a  still  earlier 
composition,  the  great  Hymn  of  Victory  of  Thutmose  III 
(II,  658  ff.),  but  again  with  some  changes. 

114.  The  title  over  the  captive  towns  and  countries  led 
by  Amon  and  a  Theban  genius,  is  restored  from  Scene  20, 
where  it  is  repeated.  This  list  of  the  towns  and  countries 
gained  in  these  conquests  was  appended  to  each  of  the  two 
sacrificial  scenes  (ii  and  20)  concluding  the  two  great  series. 
Both  lists  are  totally  confused,  even  the  stereotyped  “Nine 
Bows”  being  broken  up  into  two  fragments.  Evidently 
little  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  them,  as  they  are  placed 
here  to  serve  a  conventional  function,  viz.,  merely  to  convey 
the  idea  of  vast  conquests.  Fortunately,  a  more  careful  list 
of  Seti’s  conquests  is  preserved  upon  a  sphinx  in  his  temple 
at  Kuma,*  which  is  as  follows:  1-9,  the  “Nine  Bows;” 
10,  Kheta  ii,  Naharin  {N-h-r-ny);  12,  Alasa 

(’-r^-5^);  13,  Akko  14,  Simyra  -nty-^r^)] 

15,  Peher  (P^-k-r^);  16,  Bethshael  -r^);  17, 

Khamehem  18,  Yenoam  (F-»w-'’-ww); 

19,  Ullaza  n-n-r'^  -t^);  20,  Kerned  -my-dw);  21, 
Tyre  (d^-rw);  22,  Othu  (Yw-tw)-,  23,  Bethanath 
'  -»-/) ;  24,  Keremim  (k^  -r^  -my-mw) ;  The  remaining 


^Lepsius,  DenkmiUerf  III,  131,  a.  See  Miiller,  Asien  und  Europay  191-95. 
^Text  which  is  clearly  to  be  corrected  to  r  ?  (Miiller,  Asien  und  Europay 
187,  n.  2). 

cperhaps  to  be  corrected,  as  MUller  does  {Asien  und  Europay  195),  to  »  -f  »  - 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


S6 


[§iiS 


names  (25-43)  are  haphazard  selections®  of  the  famous 
towns  and  districts,  chiefly  of  Asia,  familiar  to  the  Eg5^tians 
from  earlier  conquests.  Only  the  towns  in  the  northern 
plain  of  Jezreel,  and  in  Phoenicia  are  grouped  together  (Nos. 
13-24),  but  within  the  group  they  occur  at  haphazard.  Not 
even  such  a  grouping  can  be  discovered  in  the  aimless,  con¬ 
fused  conclusion  (Nos.  25-43).'’ 

11$.  In  harmony  with  the  claims  of  these  lists  the  words 
accompanying  the  king’s  action  claim  for  him  the  great 
domain  of  his  predecessors  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  viz., 
from  the  ‘‘Horns  0}  the  Earth  on  the  south,  to  the 
“marshes  of  Naharin,”  (§  118)  on  the  north.  This  is  still 
literally  true  for  the  southern  boundary,  but  is  unquestionably 
an  exaggeration  in  the  case  of  the  northern  boundary.  If 
Seti  ever  carried  his  arms  as  far  as  Naharin,  he  was  unable 
to  establish  his  boundary  there,  or  hold  anything  inland, 
north  of  Galilee. 

Over  Amon 

116.  ^Utterance  of  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes:  ‘‘O  my  son,  of  my 
body,  ®my  beloved,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  Menmare,  lord  of  might 
in  every  country!  am  thy  father;  I  set  thy  terror  in  Retenu,  the 
Upper  and  ^the  Lower.  The  Nubian  Troglodytes  are  slain  beneath 
thy  feet. 

I  bring  sto  thee  the  chiefs  of  the  southern  countries,  that  they  may 


«They  do  not  seem  to  be  taken  from  Scenes  1 1  and  20,  as  Muller  states  (Muller, 
Asien  und  Europay  191,  n.  i),  but  arc  equally  orderless  and  methodless  selections 
from  the  names  known  to  the  compiler. 

relief  on  this  same  north  wall  of  Karnak  shows  Amon  presenting  to  an 
uncertain  king  a  series  of  thirty  captured  towns.  MUller  (^Asien  und  Europoy  164- 
66)  has  shown  that  this  list  includes  some  towns  in  the  west  of  central  Palestine. 
He  has  attributed  the  relief  to  Ramses  II,  but  the  location  of  the  document,  where 
only  Seti  I’s  inscriptions  are  found  would  indicate  that  it  belongs  to  the  latter. 

cA  stela  at  Ibrim  contains  similar  references  (Sayce,  Recueily  16,  170!.); 
the  southern  boundary  is  given  as  the  **  Horns  of  the  Earth**  and,  referring  to  the 
northern,  the  king  is  called  the  “  crusher  of  RetenUy  carrying  off  their  chiefs  as  living 
prisoners**  Then  follow  the  conventional  references  to  the  submission  of  South 
and  North. 


§  II7]  KARNAK  RELIEFS 


57 


make  thee  to  receive  the  tribute,  being  ‘^every  good  product  of  their 
countries,  to  hasten  ’ - . 

[I  turn]  my  face  to  the  north,®  I  work  a  wonder  *[for  thee] - 

snaring  the  rebels  in  their  nests  by  the  power  of  thy  might.  I  bring  to 
thee  ^countries  that  know  not  Egypt,  with  their  tribute  borne,  consisting 
of  silver,  gold,  lapis  lazuli,  every  splendid  costly  stone  of  God’s- 
Land. 

turn  my  face  to  the  east,  I  work  a  wonder  for  thee,  I  bind  them 
all  for  thee,  gathered  in  thy  grasp.  I  gather  together  all  the  countries  “of 
Punt,  all  their  tribute,  of  gum  of  m)nTh  n/y),  cinnamon,  and  all  the 
pleasant  sweet  woods  of  God’s-Land,  “^'fragrant'*  before  thee,  and  thy 
uraeus. 

I  turn  my  face  to  the  west,  I  work  a  wonder  for  thee,  consuming 
for  thee  every  land  of  Tehenu  {Tyhnw).  ^^xhey  come  bowing  down 
[to  thee],^  falling  upon  their  knees  for  terror  of  thee.  The  chiefs  of 
14 - to  give  to  thee  praise. 

I  turn  my  face  to  heaven,  I  work  a  wonder  for  thee ;  the  gods  of  the 
horizon  of  heaven  acclaim  ^sto  thee,  when  Re  is  born  every  morning; 
thou  flourishest  like  Re,  when  he  has  brought  midday. 

I  turn  my  face  to  the  earth,  work  a  wonder  for  thee,  I  appoint 
for  thee  victories  in  every  country].  The  gods  rejoice  in  thee,  in  their 
temples;  thou  shalt  spend  eternity  as  king  upon  the  throne  of  Keb. 

Before  Amon 

1 17.  *I  have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty  as  lord  of  radiance,  so 
that  thou  hast  shone  in  their  faces  like  my  image. 

*I  have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty,  arrayed  in  thy  regalia,  when 
[thou]  takest  the  weapons  of  war  in  the  chariot. 

have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty  like  a  circling  star,  which 
scatters  its  flame  in  fire  and  gives  forth  its  dew. 

-♦I  have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty  as  a  young  bull,  firm  of  heart, 
ready-horned,  irresistible. 

si  have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty  as  a  crocodile,  terrible  on 
the  shore,  unapproachable. 


»The  god  should  first  face  south,  as  in  the  original  text  of  Amenhotep  III 
(II,  891),  from  which  our  text  of  Seti  I  is  plagiarized. 

^Corrected  from  Medinet  Habu;  Guieysse  has  totally  confused  the  two  texts, 
his  Medinet  Habu  text  being  incorrect. 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[jiiS 


S8 


have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty  like  a  flame  of  fire,  like  the 
very  being  of  Sekhmet,  in  her  tempest. 

71  have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty  as  [a  fierce-eyed  lion,  so  that 
thou  makest]  them  corpses  in  their  valleys. 

have  caused  them  to  see  thy  majesty  as  a  — ,  great  in  strength, 
irresistible  in  heaven  or  in  earth. 

Before  Anion's  Sword 

Take  to  thyself  the  sword  O  mighty  king,  whose  mace  smites 

the  Nine  Bows. 

Before  the  King 

118.  Slaying  of  the  Asiatic  Troglodytes  {Ynw-Mn' t' yw),  all  inac¬ 
cessible  countries,  all  lands,  the  Fenkhu  of  the  marshes  of  Asia,  the 
Great  Bend  {pjj^r  wr)  of  the  sea  {w'^  d-wr). 

Over  King 

Smiting  the  Troglodytes,  beating  down  the  Asiatics  {Mn’  t  ‘  yw)^ 
making  his  boundary  as  far  as  the  ‘‘J^Horns"*  of  the  Earth,’^  as  far  as 
the  marshes  of  Naharin  (iV-Zt-r-n). 

Line  below  King 

1 19.  List  of  those  southern  and  northern  lands,  which  his  majesty 

smote,  making  a  great  slaughter  among  them,  of  unknown  number. 
[Their  subjects  are]^  carried  away  [as  living  captives,  to  fill  the  store¬ 
house  of  his  father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  all  countries] - . 

SCENE  12.  FIRST  BATTLE  WITH  THE  LIBYANS^ 

120.  With  this  scene  we  pass  to  the  other  side  of  the  door 
(cf.  Fig.  i),  to  a  group  of  nine  scenes  where  there  is  no  date 
preserved;  and  as  shown  above  (§§8off.),  they  do  not 
necessarily  belong  to  the  wars  of  year  i  on  the  east  side  of 
the  door,  but  may  have  occurred  at  any  time  subsequent  to 
the  year  i.  As  we  have  shown  above  (§82),  Seti  spent 
practically  his  entire  second  year  in  the  Delta,  and  he  may 
well  have  fought  the  Libyan  war  in  that  year. 


•Restored  from  Scene  20. 


^For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i. 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


59 


121,  As  Seti’s  first  war  in  Asia  was  introduced  by  a  minor 
campaign  against  the  Bed  win  of  Sinai  and  the  Negeb,  so 
now  his  second  Asiatic  war  is  preceded  by  a  campaign 
against  the  Libyans.  It  is  evident  that  the  pressure  of  the 
Libyans  into  the  Delta,  which  became  so  serious  under 
Seti’s  grandson,  Memeptah  (§§569  ff.),  already  began  under 
Seti  himself.  He  was,  therefore,  unable  to  continue  his 
conquests  in  Asia  without  chastising  them.  Unfortunately, 
the  scene  is  purely  conventional,  and  the  descriptive  texts 
contain  nothing  but  general  terms. 


Before  King 

122,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  Menmare;  Lord  of  Diadems:  Seti- 
Merneptah. 


Behind  King 

Hartema,  Lord  of  achievement. 


Over  Horses 

I - ^devastating,  seizing  in  every  country,  ^brave  without  his 

like,  achieving  with  his  ^sword,  till  the  Two  Lands  know  it,  till  the 
^whole  earth  sees  it.  He  is  like  Baal,  ^he  traverses  the  mountains, 
7his  terror  has  penetrated  the  countries,  his  name  ®is  victorious,  ^his 
sword  *®is  mighty,  “there  is  none  **that  stands  before  him. 


SCENE  13.  SECOND  BATTLE  WITH  THE  LIBYANS* 

123.  This  second  battle  scene  in  addition  to  the  strength 
and  vigor  which  give  it  value  as  an  artistic  composition,  is  of 
great  importance  because  of  the  two  princes,  whom  it  repre¬ 
sents  as  participating  in  the  battle.  One  of  them  (behind 
Seti)  bears  the  name  of  Ramses,  and  is  of  course,  he  who 
later  became  Ramses  II.  This  fact  has  had  great  weight 
in  the  study  of  the  reigns  of  Seti  and  of  Ramses  II,  and  has 


»For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i,  to  which  Prisse,  Histoire  de  Vart  igyptien 
(plates  unnumbered),  may  be  added. 


6o 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§1*4 


materially  modified  the  chronology  of  both  reigns.^  But 
let  it  be  noted,  in  the  first  place,  that  this  figure  of  Ramses  is 
in  a  scene  of  the  Libyan  war,  without  a  date,  far  from  the 
scenes  of  the  Shasu  war  of  year  i,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
door.  This  appearance  of  Ramses  with  his  father  was 
therefore  not  necessarily  in  his  father’s  first  year,  as  has 
been  so  often  assumed. 

124.  Furthermore,  a  close  examination  of  the  accom¬ 
panying  figures  will  show,  first,  that  this  scene  is  no  proof 
that  Ramses  ever  appeared  with  his  father  in  battle  at 
all;  and,  second,  that  Ramses  was  not  the  first  heir  to 
Seti’s  throne.  Behind  the  Libyan  chief  whom  Seti  hurls 
backward  stands  an  Egyptian  prince  (Fig.  4,  broken  lines), 
facing  toward  the  left,  and  watching,  or  possibly  taking 
part  in,  the  conflict.  Behind  Seti  stands  Prince  Ramses 
(Fig.  3,  dotted  lines),  facing  toward  the  right,  and  likewise 
watching  the  conflict.  Fig.  4  cannot  also  be  Ramses,  for  he 
could  not  appear  twice  in  the  same  scene.  Its  accompanying 
inscription'  is  as  follows:  “  Hereditary  prince,  first  king's-son, 

of  his  body - ,”  in  which,  unfortunately,  the  name  is 

wanting;  where  it  could  have  stood  before  its  disappearance 
is  a  question,  for  the  skirt  of  the  prince  projects  under  the 
titles,  and  the  name  must  therefore  have  been  pushed  to 


aThus  Maspero  {Struggle  of  the  Nations,  369,  n.  3)  concludes  that  Seti  I 
married  Ramses  II^s  mother,  Tuya,  under  Harmhab,  and  {ibid.,  387,  n.  5)  that 
Seti  I  could  not  have  reigned  longer  than  fifteen  to  twenty  years  (possibly  only 
twelve  or  fifteen),  because  Ramses  II  appears  “as  a  stripling  in  the  campaign  of 
Seti’s  fiist  year.” 

full  discussion  of  these  questions  by  the  present  writer  will  be  found  in 
Zeitschrift  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  37,  130-39,  from  which  the  accompanying 
figures  are  taken. 

cit  is  very  faint  and  has  been  overlooked  in  Champollion,  Monuments,  297,  2, 
and  in  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  54,  2;  the  only  publication  containing  it  is 
Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  99.  Every  sign  is  traceable  in  the  photograph 
which  I  used  for  making  the  drawing. 


Fig.  3.— Showing  Two  Superimposed  Figures  (dotted  lines  fadng  right;  Fig.  4.— Inserted  Figure  of  First  Khig^s-Son 

broken  lines  facing  left).  (broken  lines). 

(Figures  3  and  4  are  taken  from  opposite  ends  of  the  same  scene.  Omitted  in  the  middle  is  the  colossal 
figure  of  Seti  I.  His  foot  is  shown  trampling  the  head  of  a  Libyan  in  Fig.  3.  His  arm  appears  in  Fig.  4 
overthrowing  a  Libyan  (with  bow  in  hand),  but  Fig.  4  is  on  a  smaller  scale  than  Fig.  3.) 


63 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[S125 


the  left  (under  the  Libyan  chief’s  elbow).*  The  historical 
conclusion  here  is  important:  the  “first  king's-son”  of  Seti  I 
was  not  his  successor,  Ramses;  that  is,  that  Ramses  II  had 
an  older  brother,  who  did  not  reach  the  throne. 

125.  But  a  further  examination  of  this  scene  discloses 
the  fact  that  this  figure  of  Ramses’  elder  brother  (Fig.  4) 
is  not  original  and  does  not  belong  where  it  stands.  The 
first  glance  shows  that  the  contracted  space  between  the 
chariot  wheel  (belonging  to  the  next  scene  to  the  right)  and 
the  leg  of  the  falling  Libyan  is  too  narrow  for  another  figure, 
and  the  artist  has  barely  been  able  to  squeeze  the  prince  in. 
Thus  he  is  as  much  in  one  scene  as  the  other,  an  anomalous 
arrangement!  He  stands  with  fan  upraised  in  his  right 
hand,  as  if  to  smite  the  falling  Libyan.  The  fan  runs  directly 
across  the  vertical  line  of  text!  It  is  difficult  to  say  where 
the  right  arm  is;  it  seems  to  have  been  raised,  and  it  may 
be  that  he  was  seizing  his  father’s  foe,  as  his  father  is  doing. 
Passing  through  the  fan,  the  large  column  of  text  extends 
down  through  the  prince’s  head  and  body,  to  the  bottom. 
It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  at  some  time  after  Seti  had  com¬ 
pleted  these  reliefs  his  eldest  son  had  himself  inserted  here, 
as  taking  part  in  Seti’s  Libyan  campaign.  It  is  clear  also 
that  someone  desired  his  removal,  for  his  figure  has  been 
rudely  chiseled  away.  Champollion  speaks  of  him**  as  a 
“prince  martel6  et  surcharge  avec  d6bris  de  l^gende”  (his 
titles  follow),  showing  that  also  his  accompanying  inscrip¬ 
tion  has  been  hammered  out.  The  person  to  whom  the 
figure  of  the  eldest  son  would  be  most  unwelcome,  and  who 


•There  is  now  no  trace  of  it  there,  owing  to  a  large  fissure  in  the  stone. 
I  am  unfortunately  obliged  to  work  from  photographs,  as  I  did  not  study  these 
reliefs  when  at  Karnak,  and  the  figures  of  the  princes  are  now  nearly  covered  with 
debris  again. 

^Notices  descripUveSf  II,  99. 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


63 


j  X27] 


would  therefore  be  most  desirous  to  remove  it,  is  of  course, 
the  other  prince  in  the  same  scene,  Ramses.  We  are  cer¬ 
tainly  correct  in  attributing  the  mutilation  to  him.  More¬ 
over,  it  is  quite  certain  that  he  did  this  in  order  to  have  the 
figure  of  himself  inserted  in  the  same  scene,  for  his  own 
figure  (Fig.  3,  dotted  lines)  is  not  original  to  this  scene. 

126.  In  the  first  place,  we  notice  in  Fig.  3,  as  in  Fig.  4, 
the  narrowness  of  the  space  into  which  the  prince’s  figure 
has  been  squeezed,  so  that  his  left  foot  passes  through  the 
feather  of  the  fallen  Libyan,  whom  Seti  is  trampling,  and 
his  left  hand  collides  with  the  other  feather.  Further,  we 
again  notice  a  column  of  text  extending  down  through  the 
prince’s  head  into  his  body.®  Ramses  stands  with  right 
hand  raised  palm  outward,  as  usual  in  salutation,  and  carry¬ 
ing  his  fan  vertically  before  him  in  the  left  hand.  A  joint 
in  the  masonry  has  obliterated  shoulders  and  face.  The 
accompanying  text  is  partly  in  one  scene  and  partly  in  the 
next.  It  is  as  follows:  Prince  (rp^  ’ty),  king’s-son,  croton 
prince,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Ramses."  The  historical  con¬ 
clusions  to  be  derived  from  this  text  will  be  taken  up  later. 

127.  A  closer  inspection  of  Ramses’  figure  shows  that,  in 
having  himself  inserted  here,  he  at  the  same  time  improved 
the  opportunity  to  efface  another  figure,  which  we  will  call 
X,  over  which  his  own  has  been  cut.  The  motives  for  this 
second  effacement  are  undoubtedly  the  same  as  for  the  first, 
and  X  was  therefore  Ramses’  elder  brother.  But,  as  the 
elder  brother  has  already  been  once  effaced  in  this  scene,  we 
should  expect  that  this  second  occurrence  of  his  figure  be¬ 
longed  to  another  scene,  and  such  is  clearly  the  case.  Under 
Ramses’  figure  appears  a  second  pair  of  feet  striding  in  the 


•These  signs  are  so  clear  that  they  were  copied  by  Rosellini,  but  in  his  publi¬ 
cation  {Monumenti  Storici,  54,  2)  he  has  shifted  the  column  above  too  far  to  the 
right. 


64 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SEJI  I 


[|i28 


opposite  direction  (the  left;  see  broken  lines);  behind 
Ramses  is  the  front  point  of  a  skirt;  behind  him  is  a  third 
arm;  across  his  figure  is  a  quiver*  with  the  opening  to  the 
left;  above  him  is  a  fan**,  with  the  tip  of  the  feather  turned 
to  the  left.'  All  these  belong,  of  course,  to  the  figure  X 
(broken  lines),  facing  to  the  left.  A  comparison  of  X  with 
the  prince  in  Fig.  5  shows  clearly  that  X  was  striding  in 
the  same  way  after  the  chariot  behind  which  he  is.  Especially 
characteristic  are  his  left  foot  poised  for  the  next  step,  the 
arm  hanging  down  in  front,  and  the  fan  over  the  shoulder. 
X  therefore  belongs  to  the  scene  to  the  left,  representing 
Seti’s  triumphant  return  (Scene  14)  from  the  Libyan  war, 
riding  in  his  chariot  and  driving  his  prisoners  before  him, 
like  the  prince  following  Seti  in  his  return  from  the  first 
Syrian  war  (Fig.  5).  This  is  what  we  should  expect;  be¬ 
fore  Ramses’  interference,  the  figure  of  his  elder  brother 
appeared  once  in  each  of  the  two  scenes;  the  battle  with 
the  Libyans  (Fig.  4)  and  the  return  (Fig.  3).  Ramses 
preferred  to  appear  in  the  battle  and  had  himself  inserted 
facing  the  right. 

12S.  But  if  the  figure  of  Ramses  is  a  later  insertion,  that 
of  his  brother  (X)  is  equally  so;  the  latter’s  fan,  quiver,  and 
indeed  his  whole  figure  cut  directly  into  the  original  column 
of  text,  as  the  figure  of  Ramses  does.  X  has  had  himself 
inserted  here.  It  is  this  fact  which  renders  certain  the 
identity  of  X  and  Seti’s  eldest  son  (Fig.  4);  both  desired 


»The  quiver  was  always  carried  on  the  left  side,  with  the  opening  in  front; 
hence  in  this  case  belonging  to  a  person  facing  the  left. 

'^The  fan  was  always  borne  with  the  tip  of  the  feather  pointing  toward  the  front, 
as  in  Ramses’  figure  and  in  Fig.  5. 

cThe  feet  and  the  quiver  were  seen  and  copied  by  Rosellini  and  Champollion, 
and  appear  in  their  publications  (Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  54;  Champollion, 
Monuments,  297,  2),  but  seem  to  have  remained  unnoticed  since. 


Ji3il 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


6S 


to  appear  in  Seti’s  Libyan  war,  both  were  the  object  of 
Ramses’  hatred,  and  both  were  effaced  by  him. 

129.  To  recapitulate,  we  find  thus  far  three  stages  on  this 
wall: 

1.  An  uninterrupted  column  of  text  on  each  side  of  the 
battle  scene;  and  no  princes  in  either  it  or  the  scene  of  the 
return. 

2.  Seti’s  eldest  son  inserts  his  own  figure  at  the  right  of 
the  battle  scene  and  at  the  right  of  the  return. 

3.  Prince  Ramses  effaces  the  figure  of  his  elder  brother 
in  both  places,  but  over  that  of  his  brother  in  the  return 
scene  he  inserts  his  own  figure,  so  facing  as  to  belong  to  the 
battle  scene. 

130.  There  are  evidences  of  a  similar  insertion  (Fig.  6)  at 
the  top  of  this  same  wall,  on  a  few  isolated  blocks  at  the  left 
of  the  capture  of  Kadesh  (Scene  16).  Here  we  see  a  figure 
(Fig.  6,  broken  lines)  with  uplifted  arm,  like  that  of  Ramses 
in  the  battle  scene,  and  wearing  a  quiver.  Before  this  figure 
are  the  arms  of  a  captive  bound  behind  his  back,  showing 
that  the  man  follows  the  king’s  chariot  (as  in  Fig.  5), 
behind  which,  however,  the  king  leads  a  line  of  captives. 
But  this  figure  is  likewise  a  later  insertion,  for  a  column  of 
text  extends  down  through  it,  and  the  head  of  the  Syrian, 
who  has  fallen  beneath  the  chariot,  projects  into  the  skirt. 
It  is  impossible  to  decide  whether  this  figure  is  that  of  Ramses 
or  his  brother. 

131.  The  historical  results  to  be  drawn  from  the  above 
facts  are  not  numerous,  but  are  important.  It  is  clear,  in 
the  first  place,  that  these  reliefs  offer  no  evidence  whatever 
that  Ramses  II  ever  took  part  in  any  campaign  of  his  father, 
of  whatever  year.  It  is  therefore  no  longer  necessary  to 
shorten  the  reign  of  Seti  in  order  that  Ramses  may  be  suffi¬ 
ciently  young  at  his  (Ramses’)  accession,  as  Maspero  con- 


Fig.  5. — An  Unknown  Prince  Following  the  Chariot  of  Seti  I 
(Scene  14). 


Fig.  6. — Figure  of  an  Unknown  Prince  Inserted  in  a 
Fragmentary  Scene  (§  130). 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


67 


Sx3»] 


sidered  unavoidable.  As  far  as  these  reliefs  are  concerned, 
Ramses  might  even  have  been  bom  after  Seti’s  accession. 
The  fact  alone  that  Ramses  was  obliged  to  insert  his  own 
figure  in  his  father’s  battle  scenes,  in  order  to  appear  there 
at  all,  of  course  creates  a  strong  suspicion  that  he  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  events  they  depict;*  and  thus  Seti’s  reign 
may  have  been  considerably  longer  than  is  usually  attributed 
to  him.  He  was  about  to  celebrate  his  jubilee  when  he  died, 
having  left  an  obelisk  unfinished,  so  that  it  was  completed 
by  his  son,  Ramses  II  (§§544  ff.).  If  his  father  reigned  two 
and  a  half  years,  Seti’s  jubilee  might  have  fallen  in  the 
middle  of  his  twenty-eighth  year.  But  as  he  did  not  live  to 
complete  the  obelisk  and  celebrate  the  jubilee,  he  may  have 
died  a  few  years  before  the  jubilee,  after  a  reign  of  over 
twenty  years.  A  greater  maximum  is  improbable,  for  the 
reason  that  Setau,  viceroy  of  Kush  in  Seti  I’s  second  year,** 
is  known  also  in  Ramses  II’s  thirty-eighth  year,  which,  if 
Seti  reigned  twenty  years,  makes  Setau’s  term  of  office  at 
least  fifty-seven  years — an  extraordinary  tenure  of  office. 
For  the  extensive  building  which  Seti  I  accomplished, 
twenty  years  are  none  too  long  a  reign. 

Over  the  Foe 

132.  • -  [overthjrowing  his  enemies,  smiting  ’ - 

among  them,  * - their  chiefs  fall  * - [beneath]  the  two 

feet  of  Horus,  5[the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt],  Men[mare]; 
*[the  Son  of  Re,  Seti-Me]rn[eptah],  given  satisfying  life,  like  Re. 

Before  King 

Smiting  the  chiefs  of  Tehenu  (Tyhnw). 


“See  the  discussion  of  Ramses  II’s  youth,  $§  254,  283. 

••Papyrus  in  Bibliothhque  Nationale,  209,  in  Spiegelberg,  Rechnungen,  PI.  X, 
col.  4,  1.  3. 


68 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§133 


Over  Fan 

Hartema,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Lord  of  Offering,  smiting  every 
country. 

Under  Fan 

All  protection,  life,  stability,  satisfaction  are  behind  him,  like  Re, 
lord  of  might,  smiting  the  Nine  Bows. 

Left  of  Fan 

The  King,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Lord  of  Might,  Menmare, 
smites  the  chiefs  of  the  countries. 

With  Prince  behind  King 

The  hereditary  prince  (rp^'ty),  the  king’s-son,  crown-prince,  of  his 
body,  his  beloved,  Ramses. 

With  Prince  behind  Enemy 

Prince  /y),  first  king’s-son,  of  his  body - . 

Over  Horses 

Great  first  span  of  his  majesty  (named):  “ Smiter-of-Foreigners.” 

SCENE  14.  RETURN  FROM  LIBYAN  WAR® 

133.  We  here  see  Seti  returning  from  the  Libyan  war  in 
the  same  manner  as  he  is  shown  returning  from  his  Syrian 
war  of  the  year  i.  Behind  Seti^s  chariot,  in  this  scene,  his 
eldest  son  had  himself  inserted  following  the  chariot,  as  does 
the  prince  behind  the  chariot  in  the  return  from  Syria 
(Scene  8).  The  prince’s  figure  is  here  cut  in  over  a  column 
of  inscription  (see  Fig.  3),  showing  that  it  is  not  a  part  of 
the  relief  as  left  by  Seti.  It  was  afterward  erased  and  re¬ 
placed  by  the  figure  of  Ramses  II,  who  faces  the  other  way 
and  belongs  to  the  preceding  scene  (13). 

Over  King 

134.  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  Menmare,  Lord  of  Diadems,  Seti- 
Merneptah,  given  life. 


»For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i. 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


69 


1136] 


Over  Horses 

Great  first  span  of  his  majesty:  “Mighty-is-Amon.” 

Over  Prisoners,  Upper  Line 

- he  causes  them  to  cease  standing  upon  the  meadow,  unable 

to  take  up  the  bow,  passing  the  day  in  the  caves,  hidden  like  wolves  for 
fear  of  his  majesty - their  hearts - might. 

Over  Prisoners,  Lower  Line 

- as  living  prisoners  in  the  country  of  Tehenu  (Tyhny),  by 

the  might  of  hk  father,  Amon. 

SCENE  15.  PRESENTATION  OF  LIBYAN  PRISONERS  AND  SPOIL 

TO  AMON* 

135.  This  presentation  does  not  differ  from  those  depicted 
east  of  the  door.  The  inscription  over  the  Libyan  prisoners 
in  the  upper  line  referring  them  to  “Retenu'^  and  calling 
them  “ Asiatics” (1),  only  shows  the  subordinate  character 
of  the  Libyan  campaign,  and  the  exclusive  importance  of  the 
Asiatic  victories.  It  may  also  indicate  that  this  presentation 
of  Libyan  spoil  did  not  take  place  till  after  the  second  Asiatic 
war;  but  as  these  reliefs  were  not  put  on  the  temple  wall 
until  the  close  of  Seti’s  wars,  all  the  campaigns  in  Retenu  are 
then  past,  and  could  be  referred  to. 

Over  Atnon 

136.  ^Utterance  of  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes:  Son  of  my 

body,  my  beloved,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  ^Menmare;  my  heart  is 
glad  ^for  love  of  thee,  I  rejoice  to  look  on  ^thy  beauty.  I  set  the  terror 

of  ^thy  majesty  in  every  country  -  ’over  their  chiefs,  [they] 

come  ®to  thee  together,  to  Egypt,  ^with  all  their  possessions  *°borne 
upon  their  backs. 

Before  Mut 

Mut,  mistress  of  Ishru - mistress  of  heaven,  queen  of  all 

gods, - eternity  as  king  of  the  Two  Lands,  while  thou  appearest 

as  Re. 


•For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i. 


70 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[5137 


Before  Khonsu 

Khonsu  in  Thebes,  Beautiful  Rest,  Horus,  lord  of  joy  (and)  Thoth, 
lord  of  Karnak. 

Below 

I  give  to  thee  might  against  the  south,  victory  against  the  north. 

Over  Spoil 

137.  Presentation  of  tribute  by  his  majesty  *to  his  father,  Amon-Re, 
consisting  of  silver,  gold,  lapis  lazuli,  malachite,  ^every  splendid  costly 
stone,  from  the  might  which  thou  givest  to  me  in  every  country.  ^King 
of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  Lord  of  Offering:  Menmare;  sSon  of 
Re,  Lord  of  Diadems:  Seti-Memeptah,  given  life,  like  Re. 

Before  King 

138.  ^Presentation  of  tribute  by  the  Good  God  to  his  father,  Amon, 
from  the  rebellious  chiefs  of  the  countries  that  knew  not  *Egypt.  Their 
tribute  is  upon  their  backs,  in  order  to  fill  thy  storehouse  with  slaves, 
male  and  female;  ^from  the  victories  which  thou  givest  me  in  every 
country. 

With  Prisoners  y  Upper  Line 

139.  *His  majesty  arrived  from  the  countries  -  when  he 

had  desolated  ^Retenu  (Rtnw)  and  slain  their  chiefs,  causing  ^the 
Asiatics  to  say:  ^‘‘See  ^this!  He  is  ^like  a  flame  ^when  it  goes 

forth  and  ®no  water  is  brought.'^  He  causes  <>all  rebels  to  cease  *®all 
contradiction  **of  their  mouths,  "when  he  has  taken  away*3  their  breath. 

14  -  When  one  approaches  the  boundaries,  he  is  like  Montu, 

15  - ^  he  is  like  the  son  of  Nut;  no  country  stands  before  *^[him]. 

Over  Prisoners,  Lower  Line 

Chiefs  of  the  countries  of  Tehenu  {Tyhnw)  - . 

SCENE  16.  CAPTURE  OF  K4DESH* 

140.  The  campaign  against  Libya  being  concluded,  we 
find  Seti  again  in  Syria.  Like  the  Annals  of  Thutmose  III, 
the  campaigns  of  which  so  often  begin,  “His  majesty  was 
in  the  land  of  X,”  so  our  reliefs  offer  no  statement  of  the 


•For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i. 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


71 


8 142] 


route  of  the  army,  but  show  it  at  once  in  the  midst  of  the 
enemy’s  country,  where  he  attacks  the  Galilean  Kadesh,® 
The  crossing  of  the  Jordan  valley  and  the  erection  of  a 
boundary  stela  in  Hauran  (see  §  81)  may  perhaps  be  con¬ 
nected  with  this  campaign  instead  of  with  that  against  the 
coast  cities. 

Beside  City 

141.  Town  {dmy)  of  Kadesh  (j^dS). 

In  Fortress 

The  charge  which  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  made  to  devastate  the  land  of 
Kadesh  (j^dS),  of  the  land  of  the  Amor  (Y-m-r). 

Over  Battle 

’ - rage  ’ - heaven,  Montu  upon  2 - his  right,  valor 

4 - battle  of  myriads  * - his  army;  a  wall  for  millions  ® - 

when  he  sees  multitudes,  [he  does]  not  ’[consider]**  myriads  united, 

charging  ® - of  the  Asiatics,  making  them  <* - smiting  the  towns 

- destroying  the  settlements  - his  [w]ay,  smiting - . 

SCENE  17.  BATTLE  WITH  THE  HITTITES' 

142.  Seti’s  advance  between  the  Lebanons  necessarily 
brings  him  into  collision  with  the  Hittites,  and  we  see  him 
here  in  the  first  battle  between  Egyptians  and  Hittites 
known  to  us.  Unfortunately,  no  details  of  the  conflict  are 
given. 


*Miiller  sees  in  this  city  the  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes  {Asien  uni  Europay  217); 
but  there  seem  to  me  conclusive  reasons  against  this  identification:  (i)  The  relief 
shows  a  city  on  rocky  heights,  while  Kadesh  is  in  a  low  valley  surrounded  by 
moats  (Muller  thinks  this  due  to  the  artistes  looseness).  (2)  It  is  said  to  be  “<?/ 
the  land  of  Amor.**  Now,  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes  clearly  did  not  belong  to  the 
land  of  the  Amorites  (see  Meyer,  Festschrift  filr  Georg  EherSy  69),  and  the  purpose 
of  the  addition,  “<>/  the  land  of  Amor,**  is  precisely  to  distinguish  the  Galilean 
Kadesh  from  its  more  powerful  neighbor  in  the  north.  (3)  Muller’s  argument  that 
Seti  failed  to  capture  the  city,  which  would  be  impossible  if  it  were  a  small  Galilean 
town,  is  refuted  by  the  fact  that  /j^  is  used  by  Ramses  II  of  a  whole  list  of  captured 
cities  (Lepsius,  Denkmdlery  III,  156,  with  metathesis  f^f). 

l^See  §  148,  1.  8;  and  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  II,  76,  77. 
cFor  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i. 


72 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§i43 


Over  King 

143,  The  Good  God,  the  mighty  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands;  Men- 
mare;  Lord  of  Diadems:  Seti-Memeptah,  chosen  of  the  favor  of  Re. 

Over  Enemy 

The  wretched  land  of  the  Hittites  ^  w),  among  whom  his  majesty, 
L.  P.  H.,  made  a  great  slaughter. 

Over  Battle 

144.  *Horus:  Mighty  Bull,  Shining  in  Thebes,  Vivifier  of  the  Two 
Lands,  *King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands: 
Menmare;  Son  of  Re:  Seti-Merneptah;  ^Good  God,  mighty  in  strength, 
brave  like  Montu,  ^mightiest  of  the  mighty,  like  him  that  begat  him, 
illuminating  the  Two  Lands  like  the  horizon-god,  ^great  in  strength 
like  the  son  of  Nut,  victorious,  the  double  Horus  ^by  his  *^ownT  hand, 
treading  the  battlefield  like  Set,  ’great  in  terror  like  Baal  in  the  countries. 
Favorite  of  the  Two  Goddesses,  ®while  he  was  in  the  nest,  (for)  his  might 
protected  Egypt.  Re  made  <^or  him  his  boundary  as  far  as  the  limits 
of  that  which  Aton  illuminates.  *®Divine  Hawk,  bright  of  plumage, 
sailing  the  heavens  “like  the  majesty  of  Re;  prowling  Wolf  circling 
this  land  “within  an  hour;  fierce-eyed  Lion,  tramping  the  inaccessible 
ways  of  every  ^^country;  mighty  Bull,  [readyj-homed,  fmighty^-hearted, 
smiting  the  Asiatics,  ^^beating  down  the  Hittites  (^/  ^  (w)),  slaying 
*5their  chiefs,  overthrown  in  *^their  blood,  charging  * ’among  them 
like  a  tongue  of  *®fire,  making  them  as  that  which  is  not. 

SCENE  18.  CARRYING  OFF  HITTITE  PRISONERS* 

14s.  As  in  the  other  wars,  Seti  now  carries  off  his  prisoners. 
The  reference  to  Tehenu  (Libya,  §  147)  would  indicate 
that,  as  we  have  already  concluded,  the  Libyan  war  preceded 
the  Hittite  campaign. 

Before  King 

146.  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  Menmare;  Lord  of  Diadems:  Seti- 
Memeptah. 


•For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i. 


§149] 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


73 


Over  Horses 

Great  first  horse  of  his  majesty  (called) :  ^'Amon-Giveth-to-Him- 
the-Might.” 

Over  Prisoners  in  Fronts  Upper  Line 

147.  Good  God,  mighty  in  being,  great  in  strength  like  Montu, 
residing  in  Thebes,  youthful  Bull,  ready-horned,  sfirm-hearted,  smiting 
myriads;  mighty  Lion,  tramping  the  inaccessible  *°ways  in  every  country; 
the  prowling  southern  Wolf,  circling  this  land  within  an  hour,  sm[iting] 
his  [enem]ies  in  every  country,  mighty  warrior  without  his  like,  ^^an 
archer  skilful  of  hand,  setting  his  fame  like  a  mountain  of  copper,  fur¬ 
nishing  their  nostrils  with  his  breath.  Retenu  {Rtnw)  comes  to  him 
bowing  down,  the  land  of  Tehenu  {Tyhy^sic)  on  its  knees.  He  estab¬ 
lishes  *°seed  as  he  wishes  in  this  wretched  land  of  Kheta  (jgf/  ^  -/  sic) ; 
their  chiefs  fall  by  his  blade,  becoming  as  that  which  is  not.  His 
prowess  is  among  them  *^like  fire,  (when)  he  destroys  their  towns  {dmy). 

Over  Prisoners  in  Fronts  Lower  Line 

148.  Chiefs  of  the  countries  that  knew  not  Egypt,  whom  [his] 
majesty  brought  as  living  captives.  They  bring  upon  their  backs  of 
all  the  choicest  of  their  countries. 

Over  Prisoners  Behind 

*  Victorious  king,  great  in  strength;  his  terror  is  like  (that  of)  the 
son  of  *Nut.  The  victor  returns,  when  he  has  devastated  the  countries. 
He  has  smitten  ^the  land  of  Kheta  (ffy-t  ^),  causing  the  cowardly  rebels 
^to  cease.  Every  country  has  become .  peaceful,  5(for)  the  fear  of  his 
majesty  has  entered  ‘^among  them,  his  *^odor^  has  penetrated  into  their 
hearts.  ’The  chiefs  of  the  countries  are  bound  ^before  him,  he  con¬ 
siders  not  myriads  united  together. 

SCENE  19.  PRESENTATION  OF  HITTITE  SPOIL  AND  PRISON¬ 
ERS  TO  AMON® 

149.  The  captive  Hittites  and  their  spoil  are  now  presented 
to  Amon,  as  in  the  other  wars;  but  there  is  unfortunately 
no  additional  information  in  the  inscriptions  as  to  the  char¬ 
acter  or  extent  of  the  campaign. 


•For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i. 


74 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§iSo 


Over  King 


150.  Good  God,  great  in  victory,  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt: 
Menmare;  Son  of  Re:  Seti-Merneptah,  chosen  of  Re,  in  the  barque  of 
Re. 

Over  Amon 


'[Utterance:  ‘‘I  give  to  thee]  all  might  and  all  victory. 

^Utterance:  ‘T  give  to  thee  all  lands,  all  countries  beneath  thy 
sandals.*’ 

^Utterance:  “I  give  to  thee  the  duration  of  Re,  the  years  of  Atum.” 
^Utterance:  “I  give  to  thee  an  eternity  of  jubilees,  like  Re.” 
^Utterance:  “I  give  to  thee  aU  food-offerings.” 

^Utterance:  “I  give  to  thee  all  life,  stability,  satisfaction;  all  health.” 
^Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  presider  over  Karnak. 


Over  Bast 

'Mut,  the  great  Bast,  ruler  of  Karnak,  mistress  of  amiability  and 
love. 


Over  Khonsu 

Khonsu  in  Thebes,  Beautiful  Rest,  Homs,  lord  of  joy. 


Over  Mat 

Utterance  of  Mat,  daughter  of  Re:  “O  my  son,  of  my  body,  my 
beloved.  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  lord  of  might,  Menmare.” 


Over  Spoil 

151,  '[Presentation  of]  the  tribute  by  the  Good  God,  *to  his  father, 
Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  when  he  returned  from  the  country  of  Kheta 

^devastating  the  frebelliousi]  countries,  smiting  the  Asiatics, 
4[rtakingT]  their  possessions  of  silver,  gold,  lapis  lazuli,  malachite,  ^and 
[every]  splendid,  [costly  stone],  according  as  he  decreed  to  him  might 
and  victory  against  every  country. 

Over  Prisoners,  Upper  Lines 

152.  'Great  chiefs  of  Retenu  {Rtnw)  the  wretched,  whom  his 
majesty  ^carried  off  in  his  victories  in  the  country  of  Kheta 

order  to  fill  the  storehouse  of  his  august  father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes, 
^according  as  he  has  given  to  him  might  against  the  south  and  victory 
against  the  north.  ^The  chiefs  of  the  countries,  they  say  in  acclaiming 
his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  ^in  magnifying  his  might:  “Hail  to  thee,  O  king  of 


KARNAK  RELIEFS 


75 


§154] 


Egypt,  Sun  ’of  the  Nine  Bows.  Great  is  thy  fame,  O  lord  of  gods, 
(for)  thou  hast  carried  away  all*  the  countries,  ®thou  bindest  them 
beneath  the  two  feet  of  thy  son  Horus,  Vivifier  of  the  Two  Lands.” 

Over  Prisoners,  Lower  Line 

Great  is  thy  fame,  O  victorious  king;  how  great  is  thy  might !  Thou 
art  Montu  in  every  country;  thy  strength  is  like  his  form. 


SCENE  20.  SLAYING  PRISONERS  BEFORE  AM0N’» 

153.  This  scene  on  the  right  of  the  door  forms  the  sym¬ 
metrical  pendant  of  the  like  scene  (ii)  on  the  left  of  the 
door,  from  which  it  differs  only  in  the  inscriptions.  The 
account  of  Scene  ii  (§§113  ff.)  may  serve  equally  well  for 
this  scene. 

Before  King 

154,  Good  God,  great  in  might,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Lord  of 
Offering:  Menmare,  achieving  with  his  sword  — ;  Son  of  Re,  smiting 
myriads.  Lord  of  Diadems:  Seti-Merneptah,  smiter  of  — ,  given  life, 
like  Re. 

Behind  King 

All  protection,  life,  stability,  satisfaction,  all  health,  are  behind  him, 
like  Re.  The  living  king’s-ka.  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  presiding  over 
the  ^^‘/-hall,  presiding  over  the  dw^' t-haWf  he  is  given  all  life. 
Mighty  Bull,  Shining  in  Thebes,  Vivifier  of  the  Two  Lands. 


Over  King 

Hartema,  lord  of  offering,  smiting  the  countries,  overthrowing  his 
enemies. 


Under  Vulture 

She  gives  victory,  like  Re;  she  gives  all  life,  and  satisfaction,  like  Re. 


•On  the  use  of  r see  my  De  Hymnis  in  Solem  sub  Rege  Amenophide  IV 
ConcepUSf  22-25;  hut  my  explanation  of  the  phrase  in  the  sun-hymn,  **yn'  k 
(ibid.)f  is  to  be  modified  in  view  of  this  Seti  passage,  i?  ^  is  here  clearly  equivalent 
to  number,*  as  so  often  in  the  great  Papyrus  Harris,  and  is  used  like  tnw, 
number,*  in  the  sense  of  “a//.”  “  Yn,**  being  parallel  with  **w^f,  seize  or  bind,** 

is  clearly  used  as  usual  with  the  meaning;  **  carry  away  captive** 

'’For  bibliography,  see  Fig.  i.  ^See  IV,  410,  1.  i. 


76 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§^55 

Before  and  behind  Amon 

IS5-  ^[Utterance  of  Amon:] - the  Two  Lands,  my  son,  of 

my  body,  my  beloved.  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  Menmare,  brilliant  in 

diadems - * - his  enemies.  Thou  hast  carried  away  all 

countries;  he  who  approaches  [thy]  boundaries  -  3 - 

it  is  on  the  north  of  him;  thy  excellent  fame  is  all  that  he  (the  sun) 

encircles;  thy  fear  has  penetrated  -  4 -  thy  victories. 

I  put  the  fear  of  thee  in  their  hearts  so  that  thou  cuttest  down  the  Curly- 

Haired®  - 5 - thy  —  in  order  to  make  me  lord  of  their 

heads.  The  Sand-dwellers  (Jfry'  w-i  ^ - I  —  my 

mace  as  ^ -  thee,  subduing  for  thee  the  rebe®[llious-hearted] 

- 9 - their  chiefs  [come]  to  thee  with  all  their  good  tribute 

of  their  countries.  I  have  given  to  thee  Egypt  (T^-tnry)  - 

[capti]ves  for  thy  treasury.  I  cause  the  South  to  come  to  thee,  doing 

obeisance,  and  the  North  bowing  down.  ” - before  thy  face.  I 

have  given  to  thee  a  kingdom  established  on  earth,  I  make  thy  terror  to 

circulate  in  ” - the  sea  Q>ringi  his  Twealth^;  I  have  opened  for 

thee  the  highways  of  Punt.  - who  is  there.  I  give  to  thee 

Inmutef^  (Yn-mw’ to  lead  thee,  Khonsu  and  Horus-Soped, 

14 - as  thy  followers,  I  make  for  thee  his  two  hands  as  a  cool 

retreat  of  the  countries,  -  [the  countries  that  knew]  not 

Egypt.  I  cause  thy  majesty  to  tread  it  like  one  —  faced,  like  the  wolf 

i6 -  j  giye  possessions  of  Horus  and  Set,  and  their 

victories.  The  portions  of  the  two  gods  are  made  thy  portions. 

Over  List  of  Captives 

IS6.  List  of  those  southern  and  northern  lands,  which  his  majesty 
smote,  making  a  great  slaughter  among  them  of  unknown  number. 
Their  subjects  are  carried  away  as  living  captives  to  [fill]  the  store¬ 
house  of  his  father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  all  countries  — . 

Under  Amon^s  Foot 

- 1  give  to  thee  all  lands,  every  country  is  beneath  thy 

sandals. 

»For  rdb  read  ndb,  as  in  Tombos  Inscription,  1.  8  (II,  71). 

'^Lit.,  **  Pillar  of  his  Mother'*  See  II,  133  and  138,  note. 


WADI  HALFA  STELA 


77 


5159] 


WADI  HALFA  STELA* 

157-  As  stated  above  (§74),  this  monument  is  practically 
a  duplicate  of  a  stela  erected  by  Seti  I  at  the  same  place  six 
months  before,  recording  his  father’s  pious  works  in  the 
southernmost  of  the  two  temples  at  Wadi  Haifa.  It  was 
perhaps  erected  by  Seti  after  his  campaign  of  the  first  year, 
as  it  is  dated  in  that  year,  and  refers  at  the  same  time  to 
“the  captivity  of  his  majesty.”'^  The  king  is  only  confirming 
the  offerings  established  by  his  father,  as  they  are  identical 
with  those  on  Ramses  I’s  stela  (§§  74  ff.),  and  this  identity, 
and  the  absence  of  Ramses  I’s  name,  make  it  certain  that 
Ramses  I  had  died  in  the  interval  between  the  two  stelae. 
Moreover,  both  stelae  are  of  Seti  I’s  first  year;  on  the  first 
his  father  is  still  living;  on  the  second,  six  months  later,  he 
is  not  mentioned.  Hence  he  died  in  Seti’s  first  year,  and 
probably  in  his  own  second  year;  at  most  he  reigned  two 
and  a  half  years. 

Introduction 

158.  *Year  i,  fourth  month  of  the  third  season,  the  last  day.  Live 

Seti  .  .  .  .  * . given  life,  beloved  of  ^Amon,  lord  of  Thebes,  and 

Min-si-ese,  appearing  upon  the  Horus-throne  of  the  living,  like  his 
father,  Re,  every  day. 

Establishment  of  Offerings 

159.  Lo,  his  majesty  was  ^i[n  the  c]ity  of  Memphis  {H' t-k^-Pth) 
performing  the  ceremonies  of  his  father,  Harakhte,  Ptah,  the  great, 
South-of-His-Wall,  lord  of  Life-of-the-Two-Lands,  Atum,  lord  of  the 


“Sandstone  stela  in  the  British  Museum  (No.  1189);  published  by  Turajeff, 
St.  Petersburg,  1902.  The  above  translation  is  from  my  own  copy  of  the  original; 
the  brackets  contain  restorations  from  Ramses  I’s  stela  (§§  74  ff.). 

^This  captivity  might  possibly  refer  to  some  raid  of  Seti’s  among  the  Nubians, 
for  in  an  inscription  at  Siisileh  (Rouge,  Inscriptions  hieroglyphiqueSy  165-67), 
otherwise  consisting  of  conventional  phrases  only,  he  is  called:  ^'bringer  of  the 
limits  of  the  land  of  the  Negroes  as  living  captives^  Moreover,  as  the  stela  repro¬ 
duces  that  of  his  father  merely,  the  phrase  may  be  only  an  inadvertent  repetition. 
cThe  full  fivefold  titulary,  as  at  Redesiyeh  (§  169). 


78 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§i6o 


Two  Lands  of  Heliopolis  ^and  all  [the  gods]  of  Egypt  {T^  accord¬ 
ing  as  they  gave  [to  him]  might  and  victory  over  all  lands,  united  with 

one  heart  under  thy  sandals.  ^ - 1  ^[His  majesty®  commanded] 

to  found  [divine  offerings  for  his  father  Min-]  Amon  residing  in  Bohen 
his  first  foundation  in  his  temple:  12  {pr’ t-s)  loaves;  ^[100 
(by^'t)  loaves;  4  (ds)  jars  of  beer;  10  bundles  of  vegetables.]'^ 

Priests  and  Servants 

160.  [Likewis]e  this  temple  was  filled  with  prophets,  ritual  priests, 
priests  (w^  b);  ®his  storehouse  was  filled  with  male  and  female  slaves 
from  the  captivity  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  [the  King  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt]  Menmare  (Seti  I),  given  life,  like  Re,  forever  and  ever. 

161.  ’Lo,  his  majesty  sought  excellent  things  to  do  them  for  his 
father  Min-A[mon]  *®residing  in  Bohen;  he  made  a  great,  august  stela 

of  good  sandstone  for  the  —  place -  ”of  [his  father],  Amon, 

for  the  beautiful  birth-house  of  the  ennead,  where  appears  the  lord 
of  gods,  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt - . 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF  REDESIYEH<^ 

162.  The  reliefs  in  the  vestibule  contain  two  stereotyped 
scenes,  showing  the  king  overthrowing  the  people  of  the 
north  and  south.  These  evidently  do  not  refer  to  specific 
victories  of  Seti,  but  are  of  the  conventional  order.  They  are 
as  follows : 

163.  ‘'Amon,  leading  ten  peoples  captive,  extends  the 


»There  is  not  room  for  the  cartouche,  as  on  Ramses  Ps  stela  (1.  6). 

^Determinative  preserved,  showing  with  the  first  item  that  Seti’s  list  was  iden¬ 
tical  with  Ramses  I's  (1.  7).  Turajeff  inserts  all  the  items  and  numbers,  probably 
from  the  stela  of  Ramses  I. 

cin  the  temple  usually  given  the  same  name,  although  it  is  located  in  the 
desert  thirty-seven  miles  east  of  the  modern  Redesiyeh  (Baedeker,  347  f.),  which  is 
on  the  Nile  about  five  miles  above  Edfu.  It  was  discovered  by  Cailliaud  in  1816. 
The  inscriptions  have  never  been  completely  published;  the  most  important  ones 
by  Lepsius  {Denkmdler,  III,  139-41,  d,  copied  thence  by  Rheinisch,  Chrestomathief 
Taf.  9);  the  long  ones  much  better  by  Gol^nischeff  {Recueil,  XlII,  PI.  I  and  II). 
See  also  Lepsius,  Denkmdler^  Text,  IV,  75-84. 

‘^Lepsius,  Denkmdler f  III,  139,  a. 


Ji66] 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF  REDESIYEH 


79 


sword  to  Seti,  who  slays  a  group  of  Kushites  before 
the  god.  Interspersed  are  the  following  inscriptions: 

Over  Amon 

164.  Utterance  of  Amon:  ‘‘Take  to  thyself  the  sword,  O  mighty 
king,  Horus  of  the  bows,  in  order  to  overthrow  the  chiefs  of  Kush,  the 
wretched;  in  order  to  cut  off  their  heads.  Thy  terror  enters  into  their 
bodies,  like  Sekhmet  when  she  rages.”^ 

By  the  King 

Smiting  the  chiefs  of  Kush  the  wretched. 

Scene^ 

165.  Same  as  above,  only  with  Horus in  place  of  Amon, 
and  Asiatics  in  place  of  Kushites;  inscriptions  as  follows: 

Over  Horus 

Utterance  of  Horus  of  Edfu:  “Take  to  thyself  the  sword,  O  mighty 
King,  Horus,  shining  in  Thebes,  in  order  to  smite  the  rebellious  countries, 
that  violate  thy  boundaries.  Thy  fame  is  among  them  forever;  (they) 
fall  in  their  blood  by  the  might  of  thy  father,  Amon,  who  hath  decreed 
thee  might  and  victory.” 

166.  In  addition  to  these  unimportant  scenes,  the  temple 
contains  three  inscriptions of  great  importance  as  indicating 
the  revival  of  intercourse  with  the  Red  Sea  region,  and  the 
exploitation  of  the  gold  mines  in  the  Gebel  Zebara  district®. 
According  to  these  inscriptions,  the  road  to  the  mines  east¬ 
ward  though  the  desert,  was  so  lacking  in  water  that  the 
working  of  the  mines  in  Seti’s  time  had  languished.  Seti 
undertook  to  establish  communications  by  digging  a  well  on 


•The  list  of  ten  names  in  the  ovals  of  the  captives  is  entirely  conventional. 
'^Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  140,  a, 

cThe  god  here  leads  only  six  countries,  of  which  Shinar,  Shasu,  Kadesh,  Ashur, 
and  Megiddo  are  certain. 

<*Cut  on  the  face  of  the  rock  in  which  the  temple  is  excavated. 

•See  Lepsius,  Metalle,  36,  37. 


8o 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§167 


this  road  thirty-seven  miles  from  the  Nile,  claiming  that  he 
was  the  first  to  do  so,  although  the  name  of  a  “ king’s-son’’ 
under  Amenhotep  III,  named  “  Mermose,”*^  still  surviving, 
cut  on  the  rocks  in  the  vicinity,  proves  the  use  of  the  station 
already  in  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty. 

167.  The  first  inscription,  dated  in  the  year  9,  narrates 
the  successful  completion  of  the  well  and  also  the  erection 
of  a  temple  and  establishment  of  a  settlement  at  this  station. 
The  heretofore  unnoticed  motive  for  all  this  elaborate  equip¬ 
ment  is  stated  in  the  king’s  words  to  be  (1.  13):  “on  behalf  of 
my  beautiful  house  in  Abydos”  This  is,  of  course,  Seti’s 
famous  temple  at  Abydos,  which  he  says  was  erected  “by 
oracle  of  the  god''  (1. 13).  It  is  to  endow  the  king’s  mortuary 
service  in  this  temple  that  he  is  now  restoring  communications 
with  the  eastern  gold  regions.  He  therefore  prays,  as  he 
worships  for  the  first  time  in  the  new  temple  at  the  newly 
established  station  on  the  road  to  the  mines,  that  the  god 
may  instruct  coming  generations  of  kings  and  princes  to 
respect  his  establishment,  presumably  both  at  Abydos,  and 
at  the  new  station  by  which  communication  with  the  source 
of  revenue  for  Abydos  was  to  be  maintained.  This  explains 
why  the  next  inscription  of  nineteen  lines,  the  longe.st  of  the 
three,  is  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  warnings  and  curses 
addressed  to  those  who  may  in  future  interfere  with  the 
arrangements  by  which  Seti  hopes  to  perpetuate  the  income 
of  his  Abydos  temple  from  the  gold  mines.  Hence  at  its 
close  (1.  19)  he  calls  down  the  vengeance  of  Osiris,  Isis,  and 
Horus  upon  the  person,  wife,  and  children  of  any  official  of 
the  necropolis  (of  course,  at  Abydos)  who  shall  disregard 
(“avert  the  face  from")  “the  command  of  Osiris."  But, 
notwithstanding  these  solemn  adjurations  of  Seti,  he  had 


*RecueU,  XIII,  79,  and  PI.  IV,  No.  i. 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF  REDESIYEH 


8i 


§170] 


not  been  dead  a  year  when  his  mortuary  endowments  at 
Abydos  were  suspended  (§  263).  They  were  then  re-enacted 
by  his  son,  Ramses  II  (§271,  11.  73-75;  §272,  77-89). 

168.  The  third  inscription  records  the  gratitude  of  the 
king’s  people  who  use  the  new  station  and  the  road  thus 
rendered  easy.  They  call  him  “the  good  shepherd”'^  (1.  2), 
and  it  is  not  accidental  that  in  the  dedicatory  inscription  of 
Seti’s  Abydos  temple,  he  is  likewise  called  the  “mighty 
shepherd"^  indicating  that  particular  activity  of  the  king,  to 
which  the  temple  owed  its  income. 

I.  FIRST  INSCRIPTION ' 

Introduction 

i6g.  *Year  9,  third  month  of  the  third  season,  the  twentieth  day, 
under  the  majesty  of  Horus:  Mighty-Bull-Shining-in-Thebes-Vivifier- 
of-the-Two-Lands;  Favorite  of  the  Two  Goddesses:  Uhemmesut,^ 
Mighty  of  Sword,  Expelling-the-Nine-Bows;  Golden  Horus:  Repeat¬ 
ing-Coronations,  Mightiest-of-Bows-in- All-Lands;  King  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt:  Menmare  Son  of  Re:  Seti-Merneptah, 

given  life  forever  and  ever. 

SetVs  Excursion  in  the  Desert 

170.  On  this  day,  lo,  as  his  majesty  inspected  the  hill-country  as 
far  as  the  region  of  the  mountains,  his  heart  desired  *to  see  the  mines 
from  which  the  electrum®  is  brought.  Now,  when  his  majesty  had 


•Read  the  standing  man,  with  the  staff  and  sack  (  ?),  as  5 »,  e.  g.,  Brugsch, 
Thesaurus^  VI,  1435.  The  same  phrase  (5 »  »/r)  applied  to  the  king  occurs  in 
Mariette,  Karnakf  35,  1.  62  (corrected  from  photo);  and  compare  also  Libyan 
war  of  Merneptah  (§  580,  1.  16).  See  also  Bergmann,  Zeiischrijt  fur  dgyptische 
Sprocket  1890,  40,  n.  2. 

l>Lepsius,  Denkmdlert  III,  138,  d. 

cLepsius,  Denkmdlert  III,  140,  6— Gol^nischeff,  Recueily  XIII,  PI.  i. 
^Whm-msw' t^** Begetting  again,  ^  or  Begotten  {or  horn)  again 
•Gold  was  commonly  found  with  so  large  an  admixture  of  silver  as  often  to 
be  thus  spoken  of;  and  in  this  same  temple  the  god  says  to  Seti:  I  have  given  to 
thee  the  gold-countries,  giving  to  thee  what  is  in  them  of  electrum,  lapis  lazuli  and 
malachite.**  Lepsius,  Metalle,  45,  and  DenkmcUer,  III,  141,  6.  The  same  in  Ramses 
Ill’s  treasury  (IV,  28). 


82 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§171 


ascended  from  the  signs  of  numerous  water  courses,  he  made  a  halt  in 
the  road,  in  order  to  devise  counsel  with  his  heart,  and  he  said:  “How 
evil  is  the  way  without  water !  It  is  as  with  a  traveler  3whose  mouth  is 
parched.  ^How^  shall  their  (sic!)  throats  ^be  cooled^,  how  shall  he  (sic!) 
quench  their  thirst;  for  the  lowland  is  far  away,  and  the  highland  is 
vast.  The  thirsty  man  cries  out  for  himself  against  a  fatal  country. 
Make  haste!  Let  ^me  take  counsel  of  their  needs.  I  will  make  for 
them  a  supply  ^for  preserving  them  alive,  so  that  they  will  thank  god  in 
my  name,  in  after  years.  They  shall  come,  and  the  generations  which 
are  to  be,  shall  come  to  charm  by  me,  because  of  my  might  and  because 
that,  lo,  I  am  kind-hearted,  inclining  toward  sthe  circuit  runners.’’ 

The  Successful  Well 

171,  Now,  after  his  majesty  had  spoken  these  his  words,  in  his  own 

heart,  he  coursed  through  the  highland  seeking  a  place  to  make  a  water- 
station.  Lo,  the  god  led  him,  in  order  to  grant  the  request  which  he 
desired.  Then  were  commanded  workmen  ‘^in  stone,  to  dig  a  well  upon 
the  mountains,  that  he  might  sustain  the  fainting,  and  cool  for  him  the 
burning  heart  in  summer.  Then  this  place  was  built  in  the  great  name 
of  Menmare  Seti  I),  and  the  ^water  inundated  it  in 

very  great  plenty  like  the  two  caves^  of  Elephantine. 

Plan  for  a  Settlement  and  Temple 

172,  Said  his  majesty:  “Behold,  the  god  has  performed  my  petition 
and  he  has  brought  to  me  water  upon  the  mountains.  Since  the  gods 
the  way  has  been  dangerous,  (but)  it  has  been  made  pleasant  in  my 
glorious  reign.  ®The  districts  of  the  colporteurs  are  refreshed,  the  land 
is  extended,  my  reign  is  with  might  in  every  respect.  It  has  not  been 

known - under  me.  Another  good  thought  has  come  into  my 

heart,  at  command  of  the  god,  even  the  equipment  of  a  town,  ^in  whose 
august  midst  shall  be  a  resting-place,  a  settlement,  with  a  temple.  I 
will  build  a  resting-place  in  this  spot,  in  the  great  name  of  my  fathers, 
the  gods.  May  they  grant  that  what  I  have  wrought  abide,  that  my 
name  prosper,  circulating  through  the  hill-country.” 


•This  is  the  same  as  •  -ww,  **  water-supply ''  in  the  Assiut  inscriptions  (1, 407), 
but  the  mw  is  here  omitted,  as  also  sometimes  elsewhere.  See  also  II,  698. 

'^Text  has  tph  'i  and  krty^  from  which  the  Krophi  and  Mophi,  given  by  Herodo¬ 
tus  as  the  Nile  sources,  were  doubtless  corrupted. 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF  REDESIYEH 


83 


§175] 


Construction  0}  the  Temple 

173.  Then  his  majesty  commanded  *®that  the  leader  {}}rp)  of  the 

king^s  workmen  be  commissioned,  and  with  him  the  quarrymen,  that 
there  should  be  made  by  digging  in  this  mountain,  this  temple, 

wherein  is  Amon,  in  whose  midst  is  Re,  in  whose  great  house  are  Ptah, 
Osiris,  Homs,  Isis,  Menmare  (Seti  I),  and  the  divine  ennead  **belong- 
ing  in  this  temple. 

Seti  Worships  in  the  New  Temple 

174.  Now,  after  the  stronghold  was  completed,  adorned  and  its 
paintings  executed,  his  majesty  came  to  worship  his  fathers,  all  [the 
gods].  He  said :  Praise  to  you,  O  great  gods !  who  furnished  heaven  and 
earth  according  to  their  mind.  May  ye  favor  me  “forever,  may  ye 
establish  my  name  eternally.  As  I  have  been  profitable,  as  I  have 
been  useful  to  you,  as  I  have  been  watchful  for  the  things  which  ye 
desire,  may  ye  speak  to  those  who  are  still  to  come  {yw’  ty'  sn)^  whether 
kings,  or  princes  or  people  (r^y*  /),  that  they  establish  ^Hor  me  my  work 
in  the  place,  on  behalf  of  my  beautiful  house  in  Abydos,  made  by  the 
oracle  of  the  god,  the  existent  one,  that  they  may  not  subvert  his  plan. 
Say  ye,  that  it  was  done  by  your  oracle,  for  that  ye  are  the  lords.  I  have 
spent  my  life  and  my  might  for  you,  attain  my  acceptability  from 
you.  Grant  that  my  monuments  may  endure  for  me,  and  my  name 
abide  upon  them.^^ 

II.  SECOND  INSCRIPTION*’ 

Address  to  Earlier  Kings 

175.  *King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Menmare  (Seti  I),  Son 

of  Re:  Seti-Merneptah.  He  saith  to  his  fathers,  all  the  Kings  of 
Upper  Egypt,  the  Kings  of  Lower  Egypt,  the  rulers^  and  the  people 
ifby'l)*  ‘‘Hearken  to  me,  ye  chiefs  of  bowmen  of  the  Land  of  Egypt 
(T  ^  -mry) ;  may  ye  hear  *the  things,  O  may  ye  — .  I  have  desired  to 
requite  your  virtues  alike,  ye  being  like  gods;  a  lord  is  counted  among 
the  divine  ennead.  I  have  said  this  for  the  ^guidance*  of  my  cara- 
vaneers  of  the  gold-washers  to  my  temple,  to  set  them  carrying  3for 
my  house - my  temple.'' 


*A11  except  the  vestibule  of  the  temple  is  excavated  in  the  side  of  the  mountain. 
'^Lepsius,  Denkmater,  140,  c=-Gol^nischeff,  Recueil,  XIII,  PI.  II. 
cit  is  possible  to  render  also;  riders  of  the  people.** 


84 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETl  I 


[S176 


Warning  to  Caravaneers  on  the  Inviolability  of  Gold 

176.  As  for  gold,  it  is  the  limbs  of  the  gods;®  not  your  possession. 
Take  care  lest  ye  say  *^that  which^  Re  said  at  his  beginning  of  speech: 
‘‘My  skin  is  of  pure  electrum.” 

Warning  to  Caravaneers  concerning  Earlier  Endowments 

177.  “Now,  Amon,  the  lord  of  my  temple  ^ - .  His  two 

eyes  are  upon  his  possessions.  They  do  not  desire  to  be  deprived 
of  their  belongings.  Take  heed  against  the  incursions  of  their  people, 

because  they  are  like  them  that  taste  his  — .  Make  not  ^joy - . 

As  for  the  one  who  trespasses  upon  the  matter  of  another,  there  shall 
come  to  him  an  end,  by  doing  likewise ;  the  monument  of  the  violator 
shall  be  violated,  and  there  shall  not  remain  an  example  of  the  deceivers 
- ^the  king.** 

SetVs  New  Plans 

lyS.  “ - to  let  you  know  that  I  have  inaugurated  a  way,  in 

order  to  save  you;  I  have  made  the  caravaneers  into  gold- washers  in 

—  ^in  my  name - my  —  by  my  virtues.  I  have  made  them  into 

caravaneers  anew,  in  order  that  they  might  remain  under  me.  I  have 

not  brought  from  other  ^caravaneers - among  the  children  of 

my  temple,  or  among  the  mountaineers  of  my  sanctuary.** 

Exhortation  and  Good  Wishes  to  Future  Kings 

179.  “As  for  any  king  who  shall  be  after  me,  he  shall  establish  my 

work,  ®in  order  to  cause  to  abide - conveying  his  impost  to  the 

house  of  Menmare  (Seti  1),  to  gild  all  their  images,  made  by  Amon, 

Harakhte,  Ptah-*®Ta[te]nen  -  they  flourish.  May  they  rule 

the  lands  with  gladness  of  heart,  may  they  overthrow  the  Red  Lands 
and  Nubia;  may  their  ka*s  abide;  may  their  food-offerings  endure. 
May  he  satisfy  “those  who  are  upon  earth;  may  Re  hear - .*’ 

Warning  to  Kings  Who  Shall  Disregard  Setis  Establishments 

igo.  - saying:  “Now,  as  for  any  king,  who  is  to  come,  who 

shall  overthrow  any  of  my  plans  with  me,  he  is  one  of  whom  the  lands 
after  me  shall  say,  that  I  and  they  were  as  they  are  “with  him;  an  evil 


^Compare  the  words  of  Ptah  in  his  address  to  Ramses  II  (Lepsius,  DenkmiUer, 
III,  194;  §401,  1.  7). 


§  193]  ' 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF  REDESIYEH 


8S 


matter  for  the  heart  of  the  gods.  Behold,  one  shall  answer  him  in 

Heliopolis - .  They  shall  make  answer  concerning  their  affairs. 

They  shall  redden  like  flame  of  fire,  and  they  shall  consume  their  limbs, 
(because)  they  ^^hearkened  not  to  me.  They  shall  consume  the  vio¬ 
lator  of  my  plans,  in  order  to  place  him  in  the  dungeon  of  the  gate.”® 

Good  Will  for  the  King  Who  Respects  SetVs  Establishments 

190. ^  “pAs  for  him  who  respects]  our  affairs,  cause  to  save  him, 
void  of  his  offense;  ffor  he  is^*  another  who  derives  ^^understanding 
from  the  divine  ennead;  they  shall  abide  with  him.” 

Blessing  on  SetVs  Officials^  Who  Shall  Survive  Him 

19 1.  Now,  as  for  any  official  who  shall  survive  to  (the  time  of)  a 
king  after  me,  he  shall  cause  to  remember  good,  in  order  to  establish 
the  matter  which  I  have  done  in  my  name.  May  the  god  give  reverence 
for  him  on  earth;  may  his  end  be  satisfaction  ^^brought  to  his  ka. 

Curse  on  Disregardjul  Officials  Surviving  Seti 

192.  Now,  as  for  any  official  who  shall  bring  near  this  thought  to 
his  lord,  in  order  to  take  away  the  {hsb’w)  people, to  give  them  to 
another,  r — ^  by  counsels  of  evil  testimony;  the  fire  shall  burn  his  glow¬ 
ing  limbs,  the  flame  shall  *  ^devour  his  members,  because  his  majesty 
made  all  these  things  for  their  ka,  the  lords  of  my  house.  An  abomina¬ 
tion  of  the  god  is  the  transgression  against  his  people.  None  turns 
away  the  violating  hand  except  it  be  the  caravaneers  *^of  the  gold¬ 
washing,  which  I  have  made  for  the  house  of  Menmare,  protected  and 
defended.  It  shall  not  be  made  to  fall  by  any  people  who  are  in  the 
whole  land,  by  any  chief  archer  of  the  gold,  or  by  any  inspector  of  the 
highlands. 

Further  Warning  to  Respect  Endowment 

193.  Now,  as  for  anyone  who  shall  transgress  against  the  people 
therein,  *®putting  (them)  into  another  place,  the  gods  and  goddesses,  the 
lords  of  my  house  shall  execute  upon  him  the  appropriate  penalty. 
(For)  there  is  none  ‘^to  oppose  that  any  of  my  property  in  the  inventory 


®The  prison  at  Thebes  was  at  the  gate  of  the  temple  of  Amon  (IV,  541). 
^Intentional  omission  of  nine  in  numbering  sections. 

cSome  kind  of  official  people  in  Seti’s  new  establishment,  whom  Seti  now  warns 
their  superiors  not  to  take  away,  in  disregard  of  his  endowment. 

^The  negative  n  is  to  be  read. 


86 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SEtl  I 


[§  194 


should  be  beneath  their  feet,  forever  and  ever;  except  it  be  the  chief 
archer  of  the  caravaneers  of  the  gold-washing  of  the  house  of  ^^Menmare, 
by  his  hand,  presenting  their  impost  of  gold  to  the  house  of  Menmare. 

Curse  on  One  Disregarding  Command  of  Osiris 

194.  As  for  anyone  who  shall  avert  the  face  from  the  command  of 
Osiris,  Osiris®  shall  pursue^  him,  Isis  shall  pursue  his  wife,  Horus  shall 
pursue  his  children,  among  all  the  princes  of  the  necropolis,  and  they 
shall  execute  their  judgment  with  him. 

III.  THIRD  INSCRIPTION*" 

195.  ^Horus:  Mighty-Bull-Shining-in-Thebes,  Vivifier-of-the-Two- 

Lands;  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  [Menmare  (Seti  I)];  he  made 
(it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re,  and  his  divine  ennead; 
making  for  them  a  temple  anew:^  wherein  the  gods  are  satisfied;  before 
which  he  dug  a  well.  Never  was  made  *the  like  of  it  by  any  king,  save 
by  the  king,  the  maker  of  glorious  things,  the  Son  of  Re,  Seti-Mer- 
neptah,  the  good  shepherd,®  who  preserves  his  soldiers  alive,  the  father 
and  mother  of  all.  They  say  from  mouth  to  mouth:  Amon,  give  to 

him  eternity;  double  to  him  everlastingness.  Ye  gods  dwelling  in  the 
well,^  3give  ye  to  him  your  duration;  for  he  hath  opened  for  us  the  way 
to  march  in;  (when)  it  was  closed  up  before  us.  We  proceed®  and  are 
saved;  we  arrive  and  are  preserved  alive.  The  difficult  way,  which  is 
in  our  memory,  ^has  become  a  good  way.  He  (the  king)  has  caused 
the  mining  of  the  gold  to  be  like  the  sight  of  the  Horus-hawk.^  All 
generations  that  are  to  be,  beseech  for  him  eternity,  that  he  may  cele¬ 
brate  jubilees  like  Atum,  that  he  may  flourish  like  the  Edfuan  Horus, 


•A  second  w5-throne  has  been  omitted  in  the  original;  “Osiris”  must  be  read 
twice,  as  the  parallels  following  show. 

'’Lit.,  “6c  behind;^*  cf.  English  “be  after.” 

cLepsius,  DenkmiUerj  III,  140,  d  —  Gol^nischeff ,  Recueil^  XIII,  PI.  II. 

^Or:  '*for  the  first  tinier  «See  §  168  and  note. 

^The  formal  name  of  each  god,  as  patron  of  the  temple  and  well,  was:  **  Amon 
or  Horus  {or  any  god  in  the  ennead)  dwelling  in  the  well  of  Menmare**  (see  Lepsius, 
Denkmdlerf  III,  139,  6,  c,  c,  /). 

8**T^wnn  hr,  etc,,**  and  **Twn  hr,  etc,,**  are  parallel,  the  first  being  a  mis¬ 
writing  of  the  auxiliary  verb. 

hAn  obscure  comparison;  Gol^nischeff  thinks  it  refers  to  the  swiftness  of  the 
hawk’s  eye. 


5  199] 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


87 


5for  he  has  made  monuments  upon  the  highlands  for  all  the  gods;  he 
hath  dug  for  water  upon  the  mountains,  (although)  far®  from  men,  the 
supply  of  every  messenger  that  traverses  the  highlands,  with  the  life, 
stability,  and  satisfaction^  of  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
Menmare  (Seti  I),  beloved  of  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods. 

196.  On  the  neighboring  rocks  three  of  the  officials  in¬ 
trusted  by  Seti  with  the  establishment  or  administration  of 
the  station  have  left  inscriptions.  In  the  first  two*^  the  offi- 
ciaPs  name  is  no  longer  legible,  though  in  the  second  one 
may  discern  the  words: 

197.  ‘^Made  by  the  officer  of  marines - commissioned  to 

dig  ‘The  Well  of  Seti-Merneptah.’ ” 

198.  The  third ^  was  made  by  Iny  {Yny)^  an  official  of 
high  rank,  who  is  shown  praising  Seti  I,  thus: 

“Praise  to  thy  ka,  O  good  and  beautiful  ruler,  child  of  Amon,  the 
sun  in  seeing  whom  one  lives.  O  ka  of  every  house,  my  god,  who 
fashioned  me,  in  order  to  make  me;  grant  thou  the  food  of  the  great. 
How  prosperous  is  he  who  follows  thee  daily.  [For  the]  ka  of  the  chief 
of  the  stable,  of  the  ‘Stable  of  Seti-Merneptah,^  charioteer  of  [his] 
majesty,  king’s-son  of  Kush  — ,  chief  of  the  gendarmes.  Ini  {Yny) 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 

I99*  Seti  I  has  not  left  us  any  long  record  of  his  buildings, 
like  those  which  we  find  in  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty.  Of 
his  notable  activity  as  a  builder  the  only  inscriptional  wit¬ 
nesses  are  several  quarry  stelae,  and  the  architrave  and  other 
dedication  formulae  still  to  be  found  in  the  buildings  them¬ 
selves.  Besides  erecting  new  temples,  Seti  was  active  in 


^Meaning  the  water;  it  was  formerly  far  from  men  in  this  place. 

^That  is,  **in  the  service"  of  the  king. 
cGol6nischeff,  Recueily  XIII,  PI.  III. 

^Lepsius,  Denkmaleff  III,  138,  »;  corrections  by  Gol^nischeff,  RecueU^ 
XIII,  79. 


88 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[5  200 


restoring  the  old.  Throughout  the  country  he  had  his 
sculptors  at  work  restoring  the  defacement  of  the  gods’ 
names  which  had  taken  place  under  Ikhnaton,  especially 
that  of  Amon.  Examples  of  these  restorations  will  be 
found  frequently,  as  in  the  temple  of  Amenhotep  III  at 
El  Kab,*  on  the  great  building  record  of  Amenhotep  III  at 
Thebes  (II,  878) ;  or  on  the  obelisks  of  Hatshepsut  (II,  312). 
They  are  usually  recorded  thus: 

200.  Restoration  of  the  monument  which  King  Seti  I  made  in  the 
house  of  —  (name  of  a  god). 

Taking  up  first  the  quarry  stelae,  the  following  are  the 
building  inscriptions  of  Seti  I: 

I.  FIRST  CATARACT  INSCRIPTIONS 
I.  ASSUAN  INSCRIPTION** 

301.  In  his  ninth  year,  Seti  I  sent  an  expedition  to  Assuan, 
to  obtain  granite  for  his  obelisks  and  colossi;  the  expedition 
left  a  record  of  its  work  on  the  rocks,  showing  Seti  offering 
to  Khnum,  Satet,  and  Anuket,  in  a  relief  at  the  top,  below 
which  is  the  following  inscription: 

202.  Year  9  under  the  majesty  of® . Seti  I . 

His  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  commanded  to  execute  numerous  works,  in 
order  to  make  very  great  obelisks®  and  great  and  marvelous  statues, 
with  the  name  of  his  majesty . ^ 


•Lepsius,  Denkmaier,  III,  138,  g,  and  Text,  IV,  45. 

'’On  the  rocks  on  the  route  from  Philae  to  Assuan;  published  from  inaccurate 
copies  in  de  Morgan,  Catalogue  des  monuments,  1,  7.  The  text  is,  according  to 
de  Morgan,  “tr^s  mal  grav^e,”  so  that  the  concluding  lines  are  untranslatable  in 
his  publication. 

cFull  titulary.  ‘'A  scries  of  conventional  epithets  of  the  king  are  omitted. 

•See  his  only  surviving  obelisk,  from  Heliopolis  (§§  544  ff.),  and  the  mention 
of  them  on  his  temple  model  (§  246). 

fThe  remainder  is  totally  unintelligible  in  the  publication.  A  mutilated  and 
badly  copied  rock  inscription  of  Seti  from  the  same  locality  (Lepsius,  DenkmcUer, 
HI,  141,  i),  doubtless  contained  similar  information  as  the  above  text,  for  it  is  also 
dated  in  **year  p”  and  begins:  ** His  majesty,  L.  [P.]  H.,  commanded  to  make  great 
obelisks  for  Egypt.  Then  his  majesty  found - ”  (remainder  lost). 


S*os] 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


89 


2.  ELEPHANTINE  STELA* 

203.  Above,  Seti  I  worships  Amon  and  Khnum;  below, 
an  inscription  of  eighteen  lines,  containing  a  prayer  of  the 
king  to  Khnum.  It  is  very  fragmentary,  and  the  only  data 
of  historical  importance  are  these: 

204.  -  Thou  hast  flooded  thy  temple  with  their  food- 

offerings  - '5 - of  silver,  gold,  lapis  lazuli,  and  malachite; 

thou  hast  filled  [thy]  storehouse - - .  Thou  hast  given 

to  me  the  South  as  well  as  the  North,  the  West  and  the  East,  beneath 
[my  sandals].** 

II.  SILSILEH  QUARRY  STELA' 

205.  In  his  sixth  year  Seti  I  sent  an  expedition  of  one 
thousand  men  to  Silsileh  to  procure  blocks  of  sandstone  for 
his  temples.  He  records  with  pride  his  humane  treatment 


*A  stela  set  up  at  one  corner  of  one  of  the  Elephantine  temples;  copied  and 
published  by  Champollion  {Notices  descriptives,  I,  223,  224),  but  since  probably 
covered  up  again,  as  it  was  not  copied  by  de  Morgan’s  expedition. 

*^These  are  conventional  terms,  and  may  not  apply  to  any  particular  conquests 
of  Seti.  A  neighboring  rock  shows  him  in  the  ancient  traditional  style  smiting  the 
southern  enemy,  while  the  viceroy  of  Kush  adores  him.  The  latter  is  accompanied 
by  the  following  inscription :  “  Fan-hearer  on  the  king^s  right  handy  governor  of  the 
Southern  Country y  king^s-sony  Amenemopet**  (Lepsius,  Denkmdiery  III,  141,  h^ 
de  Morgan,  Catalpgue  des  monumentSy  28-5).  This  viceroy  of  Kush  has  left  his 
name  several  times  in  this  locality,  e.  g.,  on  the  island  of  Sehel  {ibid.y  103,  No.  53; 
also  Marictte,  Monuments  diversy  No.  53).  Farther  up  the  river  he  has  left  a  con¬ 
siderable  inscription  (Sayce,  Recueily  16,  170  ff.).  “Above  the  inscription  is  a 
representation  of  the  Pharaoh  in  the  act  of  slaying  an  enemy;  behind  him  is  a 
chariot  drawn  by  two  horses  which  are  galloping  away  from  the  scene  of  combat, 
while  to  the  left  is  a  standing  human  figure.  On  the  left  -hand  side  of  the  last 
seven  lines  of  hieroglyphic  text  are  three  vertical  lines  of  inscription  recording  the 
name  of  Amen-mapet,  the  royal  son  of  Kush,  to  the  left  of  which  again  is  the  figure 
of  a  man  kneeling  on  one  knee  and  holding  a  ‘fan’  in  his  hand.”  This  is  Amen- 
emopet,  as  the  inscription  beside  him  shows:  the  long  inscription  referred  to  con¬ 
tains  only  conventional  praise  of  Seti  I,  in  which  occur  the  phrases:  **Valmnt 

kingy  making  his  boundary  to  the  limits  in  the  'Horns  of  the  FMrih? . hacking 

up  their  town . The  Southerners  come  to  him  in  obeisanccy  and  the  N ortherners 

with  prostrations,^' 

cOn  the  east  shore  at  Silsileh  in  the  sandstone  quarry,  published  by  Roug^, 
Inscriptions  hUroglyphiqueSy  263-65,  and  Griffith,  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of 
Biblical  Archceologyy  XI,  PI.  IV;  Lepsius,  Denkmaler,  Text,  IV,  98;  cf.  Lepsius, 
Denkmdlery  III,  141,  e  (also  /  and  and  Text,  IV,  97. 


90 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§206 


of  his  workmen,  and  the  bountiful  character  of  the  rations 
which  he  issued  to  them. 

Dispatch  of  the  Expedition 

206.  *Year  6,  fourth  month  of  the  first  season,  first  day,  under  the 

majesty  of  Seti  I.® . . On  this  day,  lo,  his  majesty, 

L.  P.  H.,  was  in  the  Southern  City,s  performing  the  pleasing  ceremonies^ 
of  his  father,  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods,  spending  the  night  awake  in  pur¬ 
suit  of  benefactions  for  the  gods,  the  lords  of  Egypt.  When  the  land 
brightened  ^and  fday"*]  came,  [his  majesty],  L.  P.  H.,  commanded  to 
send  a  king’s-messenger  of  [his]  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  with  a  body  of  citizens 
of  the  army,  being  1,000  men  ^ - in  troops  to  transport  the  monu¬ 

ments  of  his  father  Amon-Re- Osiris  and  his  divine  ennead,  of  fine 
sandstone. 

Rations  of  the  Troops 

207.  His  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  ^increased  that  which  was  furnished  to 
the  army  in  ointment,  ox-flesh,  fish,  and  plentiful  vegetables  without 
limit.  ^Every  man  among  them  had  20  deben®  of  bread  daily,  ^2^ 
bundles  of  vegetables,  a  roast  of  flesh;  and  **21  linen  garments  monthly. 
(Thus)  they  worked  *®with  a  loving  heart  for  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H., 
his  plans  were  pleasing  in  the  mouth  of  the  people  who  were  with  the 
king^s-messenger  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H. 

Rations  0}  the  King^s- Messenger  and  Standard-Bearers 

208.  ^*That  which  he  had:  good  bread,  ox-flesh,  wine,  sweet  oil, 
(^olivei)  oil,  rfat^  honey,  figs,  ^ — 1,  fish,  and  vegetables  every  day.  Like¬ 
wise  the  wreath^  ”of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  which  was  paid  him  from 
the  House  of  Sebek,  lord  of  Silsileh,  daily;  20  linen  garments  were  paid 
to  the  magazine  of  the  standard-bearers  of  his  army  like  manner. 

e 


*^After  the  date  nearly  four  lines  are  occupied  by  the  names,  titles,  and  epitheta 
of  Seti  I;  they  are  very  much  mutilated. 

'^The  original  is  corrupt;  it  must  contain  the  usual  hr‘ yr  t  hss't,  etc.,  occur¬ 
ring  in  this  connection,  e.  g.,  on  the  Assuan  stela  of  Thutmose  IV  (II,  826). 

^Nearly  four  pounds. 

<iMr.  .Man  Gardiner  has  called  my  attention  to  the  occurrence  of  this  word 
(c  nh)  here. 

•Usual  conventional  phrases  attached  to  the  names  of  the  king  in  conclusion. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


91 


Jai2] 


III.  GEBELEN  QUARRY  INSCRIPTION^ 

209.  The  fragmentary  record  of  Seti’s  quarrying  opera¬ 
tions  at  Gebelen  shows  that  he  took  out  stone  there  for  his 
mortuary  temple  at  Thebes,  on  the  west  side  by  Kuma. 

210.  ^ - to  search  out  f ^ - Hathor,  in  order  to  cut  out 

very  much  stone  therein,  (for)  the  House-of-Menmare  (Seti  I)-of- 
Millions-of-Years-upon-the-West-o£-Thebes.”  Then  he  came  to  his 

majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  saying - an  opportunity  of  making  his  name 

to  flourish  in  the  whole  land.  On  this  day,  the  overseer  of  fthe  treasury^, 
Thutmose  —  who - gave  silver  and  gold  of  one  time,*^  to  prose¬ 
cute  his  work - to  cut  out  very  much  stone  (for)  the  “House-of- 

Menmare  (Seti  I),’'  while  working - .  He  said:  —  plan  —  the 

king  protect  — ”  —  regulation  of  the  impost,  to  assign  their  foverseer^ 
who  is  in  charge  of  Lord-of-Life;  the  people  —  the  work.  It  is  his 

father,  Amon - telling  thee  the  desires  of  the  heart  ^sincei  the 

time  of  the  god.  For  the  ka  of  the  scribe,  who  conducts  the  monu¬ 
ments  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  the  chief  of  works,  Hui. 

IV.  MORTUARY  TEMPLE  AT  THEBES  (KURNA) 

21 1.  Besides  the  quarry  inscription  at  Gebelgn,  Seti  has 
recorded  the  erection  of  his  beautiful  mortuary  temple  at 
Kuma  in  a  series  of  dedication  inscriptions  in  the  building 
itself.  Several  show  that  the  temple  was  also  dedicated 
to  the  mortuary  ritual  of  his  deceased  father: 

212.  ®Seti  I;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Osiris- 
Ramses  I  [triumphant ;  making  for  him  a  house]  of  millions  of  years,  the 
“Temple-of-the-Spirit-of-Seti-Merneptah-in-the-House-of-Amon-on-the 
West-of-Thebes;”  and  fashioning  his  barque,  fbuilt^  of  electrum,  in 


aln  one  of  the  quarries,  on  the  rocks  at  Gebelfin;  found  there  and  published 
by  Daressy,  Recueil,  X,  134. 

'*Here  are  visible  the  fragments  of  Seti  I’s  titulary,  which  was  doubtless  pre¬ 
ceded  by  the  date  and  followed  by  the  words:  “His  majesty  commanded,  etc.^' 
cA  kind  of  gold. 

dThe  name  of  the  mountain  on  the  west  of  Thebes;  also  the  word  for  “  jar- 
cophagus  lid*' 

^ChampoUion,  Notices  descriptives^  I,  705. 


92 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI*  I 


[§213 


order  to  carry  his  beauty  in  the  procession  of  the  lord  of  gods,  at  his 
feast  of  the  valley. 

213.  ^Seti  I;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  the  Good 
God,  Menpehtire  (Ramses  I),  making  for  him  a  place  of  coolness 
forever. 

^ . making  for  him  a  Great  House  of  silver,  wrought  with 

electrum - . 

^ . making  for  him  an  august  palace  of  eternity. 

^ . ^  making  for  him  a  house  of  millions  of  years  on  the 

west  of  Thebes. 

214.  The  name  of  the  temple:  ^^Temple-of-the-Spirit-of- 
Seti-Merneptah-in  -  the -House  -  of-Amon  -on-  the  -  West  -of- 
Thebes^^^  shows  clearly  that  it  was  also  Seti’s  own  mortuary 
temple.  Hence  I  have  also  found  six  dedications  to  himself 
alone  or  to  Amon: 

215.  I.®  Setil;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon- 

Re,  lord  of  Thebes, - of  Karnak,  making  for  him  a  great  palace,  an 

august  holy  of  holies,  for  the  divine  ennead,  a  place  of  rest  for  the  lord 
of  the  gods  at  his  beautiful  feast  of  the  valley;  which  the  son  of  Re, 
Seti  I,  given  life,  like  Re,  forever,  made  for  him. 

216.  2.®  Seti  I;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon- 

Re,  king  of  gods,  making  for  him  a  house  of  millions  of  years,  on  the 
west  of  Thebes,  over  against  Kamak,  of  fine  white  sandstone,  made 
very  high  and  great,  which  the  son  of  Re,  etc . ^ 

217.  3.«  Seti  I;  he  made  it  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon- 


•Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  13T,  b;  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  707. 
^Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments^  52,  3;  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  132,  h. 
Usual  introduction  omitted. 

^Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  131,  c  and  d;  also  ihid.t  132,  h. 

dSeti  I’s  temple  at  Memphis  was  also  called:  ^'Temple~o^-t)ie-SpirU-of-Set%~ 
Merneptah-in4he-House-ol-Ptah'*  (Brugsch,  Thesaurusy  V,  1223). 

“Lepsius,  Denkmdlefy  III,  132,  a;  Champollion,  Notices  descriptiveSy  I,  696, 

697. 

^As  in  No.  I ;  but  the  name  here  is  that  of  Ramses  II,  according  to  Champol- 
lion,  Notices  descriptiveSy  I,  696. 

sLepsius,  Denkmaler,  132,  e,  and  again  152. 


§222] 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


93 


Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  residing  in  the  “Temple-of-the-Spirit-of-Seti- 
Merneptah-in-the-House-of-Amon-on-the-West-of-Thebes,”  making  for 
him  a  house  of  millions  of  years,  of  fine,  white  sandstone,  a  place  of 
appearance  for  the  lord  of  gods,  to  behold  the  beauty  of  Thebes.  The 
doors  thereof  are  of  real  cedar,  wrought  with  Asiatic  copper,  made  high 
and  large. 

218.  4.a . making  for  him  a  wide  hall,  shining  in  the 

midst  of  his  house,  a  place  for  the  appearance  of  his  august  image  at  his 
beautiful  ‘‘  Feast  of  the  Valley.”  The  great  divine  ennead  who  are  in 
Tazeser,  their  hearts  are  satisfied - . 

219.  5.^  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  fathers,  the  gods  and 

goddesses  residing  in  the  temple  (called):  “Spirit  (y ^  ^)-of-Seti- 
Merneptah-in-the-House-of-Amon-on-the-West-of-Thebes,”  making  for 
them  an  august  palace  as  a  house  of  the  holy  of  holies  for  the  gods. 
When  they  rest  in  its  palace,  Amon-Re  is  at  the  front - .” 

220.  6.*^ . making  for  him  a  house  of  millions  of  years  on 

the  west  of  Thebes,  over  against  Kamak,  of  fine  white  sandstone,  made 
very  high  and  large . ^ 

221.  The  temple  was  not  finished  at  Seti’s  death,  but  was 
completed  by  his  son,  Ramses  II,  who  has  left  in  it  more 
dedication  inscriptions  (§§516-22)  than  did  his  father. 

V.  TEMPLE  OF  KARNAK 

222.  The  northern  half  of  the  great  hypostyle  hall,  in¬ 
cluding  the  nave,  with  both  its  rows  of  columns  and  also 
the  first  row  south  of  the  nave,  are  the  work  of  Seti  I.  The 
pylon  in  front  of  the  hall  was  at  least  begun  under  Ramses  I. 
Seti’s  portion  of  the  hall  contains  architrave  inscriptions 
and  dedications,  recording  the  building  as  his  work,  though 
it  was  finished  under  his  son,  Ramses  II.  Its  name  was: 


“Lepsius,  Denkmdlerf  III,  132,  d;  and  152,  d;  the  latter  is  fuller  and  better 
preserved;  the  omitted  introduction  is  the  same  as  No,  3. 

^“Chambre  lat^rale,  c6t€  est  de  la  grande  salle*’  (Brugsch,  Rectieil  de  monu¬ 
ments,  51,  4)* 

cChampollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  697;  usual  introduction  is  omitted. 
dConclusion  as  in  No.  i. 


94 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[5223 


Temple  -0} -the  -Son-oj-Seti  -Mernamon  -  in  -  the  -  House  -of- 
Amon.^^ 

223.  ^Setil;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re, 
lord  of  Thebes  {Ns’wt4^wy)\  making  for  him  a  great  and  splendid 

temple  of  fine  sandstone . . .  Utterance  of  Amon-Re, 

king  of  gods:  “O  my  son,  of  my  body,  my  beloved,  lord  of  the  Two 
Lands,  Menmare  (Seti  I),  Begotten  of  Re.  How  beautiful  is  this 
monument  which  thou  hast  made !  O  Uhem-mesut !  Thou  hast  made 
festive  my  house  a[new];  how  exalted,  how  greatly  extended  are  the 
august  precincts,^  which  existed  before  the  kings  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt.  No  god  put  it  into  their  hearts  to  make  fthe  like  of  that  which 
thou  hast  madei].** 

224.  Seti  I,  king,  shining  upon  the  steed  like  the  son  of  Isis;  archer, 
mighty  of  arm  like  Montu;  a  great  wall  of  bronze,  protecting  his  army; 
^ ^  upon  the  ffield^  in  the  day  of  battle ;  he  did  not  consider®  millions 
gathered  together,  by  the  might  of  Amon,  who  assigns  to  him  victory 

and  might  over  every  land . .  Seti  I,  maker  of  monuments 

in  the  House  of  Amon  f \  in  order  to  make  for  him  who  begat  him  in 
the  great  and  august  precinct  of  Karnak,  a  beautiful,  divine  resting- 
place  wherein  Amon  might  rest,  a  place  of  appearance  for  the  lord  of 
the  gods  at  his  feast  of  the  First  of  the  Year. 

Other  references  like:  maker  of  monuments  with  a 
loving  heart  in  the  house  of  his  father^  Amon^^^  occur  in 
several  places. 


VI.  MORTUARY  TEMPLE  AT  ABYDOS 

225.  This,  in  decoration  the  most  beautiful  temple  in 
Egypt,  was  chiefly  the  work  of  Seti  I.^  While  serving  as  a 


“Architrave  inscription  over  the  columns  of  the  north  side;  Champollion, 
Notices  descriptivesy  II,  79,  80. 

^S^tWy  lit.,  **groundy  pavement;^'  it  is  possible  that  we  should  understand  it 
literally  here,  the  reference  being  to  the  rise  and  extension  of  the  site,  which,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Legrain,  rose  over  a  meter  from  Sesostris  I  to  Seti  {AnnaleSy  IV,  32,  33). 

<:Meaning  “he  despised.’*  dpuUer  titulary. 

•Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  II,  78. 

^Views  of  the  temple,  Mariette,  Voyage  dans  la  haute  EgyptCy  I,  Pis.  19-34,  and 
the  author’s  Egypt  through  the  Stereoscope  (Nos.  43-45). 


§2*6] 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


95 


mortuary  temple  for  himself,  sacred  to  all  the  gods  of  Eg)T>t, 
it  was  also  closely  identified  with  the  mortuary  cult  of  the 
remote  kings  of  the  earliest  d)masties,  with  whose  tombs  in 
the  desert  behind,  it  was  connected  by  a  pylon  and  a  cause¬ 
way.  All  Egypt  was  conceived  as  participating  in  and 
contributing  to  this  service  of  the  gods  and  the  early  kings; 
hence  the  nomes  of  all  Egypt  are  represented  at  its  doors  in 
personified  form. 

226.  The  first  and  second  pylons,  with  all  of  the  first  and 
most  of  the  second  court,  have  perished,  and  with  them  the 
dedication  inscriptions  of  the  architraves.®  Those  which 
remain  are  connected  with  the  seven  chapels  devoted  to  the 
king  and  six  great  divinities,  which  form  a  row  across  the  rear 
of  the  second  hypostyle  hall.  In  the  center  is  Amon;  on  the 
right,  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Horns;  on  the  left,  Harakhte,  Ptah, 
and  the  king  himself.  Thus  the  right  is  devoted  to  the 
Osirian  triad,  and  the  center  and  left  to  the  three  great  state- 
gods  of  Thebes,  Heliopolis,  and  Memphis,  with  whom  is 
naturally  associated  the  king  himself  as  head  of  the  state. 
The  seven  aisles  leading  to  these  chapels  each  bear  inscrip¬ 
tions  devoted  to  the  divinity  to  whose  chapel  the  respective 
aisle  leads.  These  aisles  pass  through  the  first  and  second 
hypostyle,  and  the  connecting  doors  between  the  two  hypo- 
styles  bore  dedications  each  to  the  divinity  to  whose  chapel 
the  respective  aisle  leads.  These  dedications  of  Seti  I  were 
erased  by  Ramses  II,  who  inserted  his  own;'*  only  four'  are 
still  legible: 


long  inscription  in  one  of  the  rear  chambers  represents  the  goddess  Safkhet- 
abui  as  describing  the  temple,  but  it  can  hardly  be  called  a  dedication  or  building 
inscription  (Mariette,  Abydos,  I,  PL  50,  51),  being  chiefly  of  religious  significance. 
On  the  foimdation  ceremony  in  this  inscription,  see  Brugsch  {Thesaurus,  VI,  1 268  f.). 

^He  erased  the  name  of  Seti  throughout  the  first  hypostyle  (Mariette,  Abydos, 
I,  14.  37)- 

cMariette,  Abydos,  I,  PI.  13,  c,  d,  e.  The  fourth  {b),  not  read  by  Mariette, 


96 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§227 


227.  King  Seti  1,  given  life.  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his 
mother  Isis,  the  great,  the  divine  mother;  making  for  her  a  doorway  of 
electrum  (named):  “Menmare-is-Rich-in-Food.” 

228.  This  formula  was  repeated  at  each  of  the  doors, 
with  only  the  necessary  change  in  the  name  of  the  god  and 
the  door.  The  recesses  for  the  opened  double  doors  also 
bore  each  a  dedication  of  the  chapel  itself,  which  was  six 
times  repeated  on  each  doorway,  varying  only  in  the  name 
of  the  chapel: 

229.  “Seti  I;  he  made  it  as  his  monument  for  his  father.  Horns, 
residing  in  “House  (fe‘/)-of-Menmare;”  making  for  him  a  Great  House 
(^■/.  cs'/)  of  gold,  that  he  may  be  given  life. 

230.  In  the  five  repetitions  on  this  door  we  find  in  place 
of  ‘‘Great  House"  above:  (2)  Doorway;  Divine  Monu¬ 
ment;  (4)  Great  House  (pr  wr);  (5)  August  Palace;  and 
(6)  Place  of  the  Heart’s  Rest.  In  the  aisle  of  Ptah  the 
chapel  is  called:'’ 

(i)  Great  House  (pr  wr)  Adorned  with  Electrum;  (2)  Splendid 
Palace  like  the  Horizon  of  Heaven;  (3)  Temple  made  Festive  with 
Provisions;  (4)  Glorious  Temple  upon  the  Excellent  Seat;  (5)  August 
Temple  of  Gold;  (6)  Great  Seat  by  the  Side  of  fRosta^. 

231.  The  chapels  themselves  also  bear  dedications. 
Three'  of  these  refer  to  the  temple  as  a  whole,  and  mention 
only  Osiris: 

232.  I.  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  Osiris,  residing  in 
“House  (fe  /)-of-Menmare;”  making  for  him  a  temple  like  heaven;  its 


is  furnished  by  Borchardt’s  copies.  The  four  are  dedicated  to  Horus,  Isis,  Osiris, 
and  Harakhte.  Another  dedication  to  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods,  Harakhte,  Ptah 
of  Memphis,  and  Osiris  is  published  partially  by  Daressy  (Recueil,  21,  6).  See 
also  Lepsius,  Denkmaleff  III,  138,  b-f. 

^Ihid.f  PI.  14,  a. 

^Ibid.,  h.  The  designations  may,  of  course,  apply  to  the  second  hypostyle. 
Marictte  published  only  the  two  given  above. 

c Along  the  ceilings;  Marictte,  Abydos,  I,  PI.  19,  6,  c,  d,  and  p.  17,  {49. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


97 


5237] 


divine  ennead  are  like  the  stars  in  it;  its  radiance  is  in  the  faces  (of 
men)  like  the  horizon  of  Re  rising  therein  at  early  morning - . 

233.  2 . a  making  for  him  an  august  temple,  the  most 

pure  [house]  of  eternity,  splendid  seat  of  everlastingness,  fronted  by 
images  and  figures  of  all  gods. 

234.  3 . a  making  for  him  a  temple,  beautiful,  pure, 

glorious  and  excellent  upon  the  divine  soil  of  the  lords  of  Tazeser,  the 
cool  seat  of  Wennofer,  the  rest - . 

235.  The  dedications  on  the  chapel  doorposts  refer  to 
the  individual  chapels,  and  mention  on  each  one  only  the 
divinity  to  whom  the  respective  chapel  was  devoted.  The 
six^  are  as  follows: 

236.  la.  Horus.  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father. 
Horns,  son  of  Isis,  residing  in  ‘‘House-of-Menmare;”  making  for  him 
a  great  seat  shining  in  the  faces  (of  men),  its  door  is  like  a  great  illumina¬ 
tion,  by  the  side  of  his  mother,  Isis,  (named):  *‘Menmare-is-the- 
Protector-of-His-Father.” 


237*  lb . ^inhishouseof  millions  of  years;  door  (named): 

d 

2a.  Isis . making  for  her  a  Great  Seat,  its  door  glittering 


with  every  splendid  costly  stone,  its  door  is  gilded  with  electrum,  giving 
forth  radiance  like  the  sun;  (named):  “ Menmare-is-Enduring-in- 
Monuments.” 

26 . making  for  her  a  great  house  —  f house  of  millions  of 

years;  (named): . 

3a.  Osiris . making  for  him  a  Great  Seat,  over  against  the 

lord  of  Tazeser,  a  great  house  {pr  tar),  gilded  with  electmm,  its  door 
fexpelsil]  darkness  like  the  sun,  when  he  appears  in  the  morning; 
(named) :  Menmare-is-the-Enricher-of- Abydos.’’ 

36 . making  for  him  a  very  radiant  — ,  its  doorway  gilded 

with  electrum,  its  door - adorned  with  every  splendid,  costly  stone ; 

(named): . 


•Same  as  No.  i. 

'>Mariette,  Ahydos^  I,  PI.  18,  a-f.  Each  dedication  is  double,  one  on  each 
doorpost.  One  is  fuller  than  the  other.  I  have  rendered  the  fuller  form  (a), 
adding  the  shorter  as  a  variant  (6). 
eSame  as  la,  as  far  as  **Isis.** 


dAs  in  la. 


98 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETI  I 


[§238 


4a.  Amon.  (Lost.) 

45.  (Only  fragments.) 

Sa.  Harakhte . making  for  him  a  Great  Seat,  adorned 

with  electrum,  its  door  gilded  with  electrum  (named):  ‘‘Menmare-the- 
Emanation-of-Re-is-the-Satisfier-of-Re-in-Abydos.” 

56.  (The  same.) 

6a.  Ptah . making  for  him  a  Great  Seat,  a  chapel  of  the 

august  •^godi*,  its  door  gilded  with  electrum  (named):  “Menmare-Ruler- 
of-Thebes-is-Great-in- Might.” 

238.  In  each  of  the  chapel  doorways  is  a  further  fivefold 
dedication,  each  formula  containing  a  different  name  for 
the  respective  chapel.^ 

239.  The  colonnaded  hall  behind  the  Osiris-chapel  con¬ 
tains  a  series  of  dedications  inscribed  on  the  columns.  They 
begin  with  the  usual  formulary  as  above,  but  continue  with 
various  designations^  of  the  temple  as  a  whole,  each  begin¬ 
ning  with  ^‘making  for  him;^^  thus: 

240.  I.  a  pure  palace  anew,  of  fine  limestone  of  Ayan. 

2.  a  temple  anew  in  the  glorious  seat  of  eternity. 

3.  a  divine  palace  in  the  place  which  his  heart  loved. 

4.  an  august  adytum  in  the  district  of  the  lords  of  Tazoser. 

5.  an  august  adytum  in  the  nome  of  the  lord  of  Tazoser. 

6.  a  great  house  ' /),  a  splendid  seat  of  the  lords  of  eternity. 

7.  horizon  of  eternity,  place  for  performing  the  pleasing  ceremonies 
in  the  presence. 

8.  a  pure  audience-hall,  excellent  forever. 

9.  a  palace,  a  door  of  the  dwellers  in  the  Nether  World. 

10.  the  great  seat  of  the  ^sanctuaryl. 

11.  a  pure  dwelling  in  the  precinct  of  Tazoser. 

12.  a  house  like  the  heavens,  its  beauty  illuminating  the  Two  Lands. 

13.  a  glorious  seat,  excellent  for  giving  jubilees  to  the  king. 

14.  this  monument,  beautiful,  pure,  flourishing,  and  excellent. 

15.  the  favorite  place  of  Wennofer  by  the  side  of  Tazoser. 


“These  thirty  dedications  were  not  copied  by  Mariette;  but  from  Borchardt's 
copies  it  is  evident  that  they  contain  for  the  most  part  the  conventional  designations, 
and  need  not  be  repeated  here.  There  are  some  repetitions. 

^Mariette,  Ahydos,  I,  PI.  19,  e. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


99 


Sa44] 


241.  The  seventh  chapel,  devoted  in  large  measure  to  the 
king,  was,  after  all,  sacred  to  the  gods  in  general,  as  the  fol¬ 
lowing  dedications*  show: 

242.  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  fathers,  the  gods  residing 
in  “House-of-Menmare,”  making  for  them  an  august  Great  House 
{pr  wr)  in  my  house  of  millions  of  years,  my  great  seat  beside  their 
majesties;  (named):  “Menmare- Equips- Abydos.” 

243.  The  other  dedication  begins  with  the  same  words, 

and  proceeds:  making  for  them - my  door  of  millions 

of  years  (named):  “King  Menmare - 

VII.  TEMPLE  model'*  OF  HELIOPOLIS 

244.  This  unique  monument  was  the  base  block  of  a 
model  temple  and  accessory  monuments  executed  by  Seti  I 
at  Heliopolis.  It  shows  the  sockets  in  which  were  set  up 
the  side  walls,  the  pylons,  colossal  statues,  a  pair  of  obelisks, 
and  the  last  pair  of  the  avenue  of  sphinxes  between  which 
arc  the  steps  leading  up  to  the  temple.  It  was  clearly  not 
an  architect’s  working  model,  but  served  some  religious 
purpose  in  the  temple,  like  the  model  tools  and  implements 
always  found  in  the  temple  foundation  deposit,  or  the  model 
temple  offered  by  the  kings  to  the  gods.  Supplementing 
the  model,  the  inscriptions  on  the  right  and  left  edge  mention 
the  making  of  a  holy  of  holies,  which  by  metonymy  may 
mean  an  entire  temple;  two  pylons,  doorways,  two  “pairs,” 
and  two  obelisks.  Now  the  materials  given  are  such  as 
are  never  used  for  such  purposes  in  a  real  temple,  and  the 
inscriptions  therefore  unquestionably  refer  to  the  model 


•Mariette,  Abydos^  I,  PI.  28,  e. 

single  block  of  gritstone  about  34}  by  44I  inches,  and  9^  inches  thick, 
“  discovered  at  a  village  near  Cairo  in  1875,”  now  in  the  possession  of  Commander 
H.  H.  Gorringe,  U.  S.  N.  It  was  published  by  Emil  Brugsch  in  RecueUt  7-9, 
Pis.  Ill  and  IV,  and  by  Gorringe  in  his  Egyptian  Obelisks  (New  York,  1882), 
PI.  XXXII. 


lOO 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SETl  I 


[§245 


itself  and  to  its  parts.  The  model  itself  is  the  “/to/y  0/ 
holies”  (s^m),  also  called  *^temple”  {h  t-ntr)  of  conglomer¬ 
ate;  the  two  miniature  pylons  were  of  some  costly  white 
stone,  the  doorways  of  bronze,  the  flagstaves  (the  pairs”) 
of  mesdet  stone,  and  the  obelisks  of  diorite.  .  These  valuable 
materials  have  long  since  been  stolen,  but  the  base  block  of 
conglomerate  has  survived,  because  of  its  ordinary  material. 

245.  Although  this  model,  as  the  inscriptions  show,®  had 
its  own  religious  function,  it  suggests  real  buildings  of  Seti  I, 
at  Heliopolis.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  did  erect  at  least  one 
obelisk  there,  which  now  stands  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo 
in  Rome.  But  it  was  still  uninscribed  at  Seti  I’s  death, 
and  its  present  inscriptions  were  placed  upon  it  by  his  son, 
Ramses  II  (§§  544-49),  who  reserved  for  himself  one  side  of 
the  obelisk,  where  he  states  the  fact.  He  also  affirms  that 
Seti  '‘filed  Heliopolis  with  obelisks”^  But  no  others  have 
survived.  A  doorpost  from  Heliopolis  bears  the  following 
dedication 

Seti  I,  beloved  of  Shu  and  Tefnut;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument 
for  his  father,  Atum,  lord  of  Heliopolis;  making  for  him  a  gate  of  grit¬ 
stone,  the  doors  thereof  of  cedar,  wrought  with  — ,  established  as  an 
eternal  work,  which  his  majesty  made,  because  he  ^so  much*  desired 
f — *  —  for  the  gods  of  Heliopolis. 

246.  The  building  inscriptions  on  the  model  are  as  follows: 

^[He  made  (it)  as]  his  monument  for  his  father,  Re-Atum-Khepri, 

by  making  for  him  an  august  holy  of  holies  in  the  likeness  of  the  hori¬ 
zon  of  heaven,  a  resting-place  of  the  two  horizons,  in  which  the  lords 
of  Heliopolis  rest,  like  Atum - . 

®The  Good  God,  making  monuments  for  his  father,  Re-Harakhte, 


^On  the  edge,  Seti  I  is  eight  times  shown  offering. 

'>See  the  record  of  Seti’s  work  on  obelisks  in  the  Assuan  quarry  (§  201  f.);  and 
an  altar  of  his  at  Heliopolis  {AnnaUs,  II,  95,  96). 
cNowin  Alexandria;  Legrain,  AnnaleSy  V,  12 1. 

<lLeft  edge.  *Right  edge. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


lOI 


§250] 


making  for  him  in  the  temple,  of  good  (red)  gritstone,  two  pylons  of 
white  costly  stone,  doorways  of  bronze,  pairs®  of  mesdet  {msd't)  stone, 
two  obelisks  of  black  basalt  (bfj^nw),  established  in  Heliopolis,  the  hori¬ 
zon  of  heaven;^  the  gods  of  Heliopolis  exult  at  seeing  (them). 

VIII.  MISCELLANEOUS 

247.  Finally  there  are  two  more  short  dedications:  one 
at  Wadi  Haifa,  and  one  at  Benihasan  in  the  Speos  Arte- 
midos. 

Wadi  Haifa 

248.  *^[86 ti  I]  seeking  monuments  for  his  father,  Min-Amon,  residing 
in  Bohen;  making  for  him  a  temple  like  the  horizon  of  heaven,  wherein 
Re  rises. 

Benihasan 

249.  ^Seti  I;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  mother,  Pakhet, 
the  great,  mistress  of  Benihasan,  in  her  temple  of  the  secret  valley,  the 
rclefti  of  the  cliff. 

250.  There  are  also  a  dedication  inscription  from  an  uncer¬ 
tain  monument,  possibly  an  obelisk  found  at  Kantara;® 
and  one  or  two  minor  references  to  buildings,  of  slight  im¬ 
portance. 


*‘The  ''pairs'^  (here  snsnox  snwy)  are  the  tall  flagstaves  set  up  against  the 
pylon- towers.  In  the  temples  they  arc  of  cedar,  capped  with  metal  (see  II,  §  103). 

'^All  the  preceding  contains  only  participles  agreeing  with  Good  God,  viz., 
the  king. 

cChampollion,  Notices  descriptives,  II,  705;  besides  the  confirmation  of  his 
father ^s  pious  works  there  (§§  73  ff.). 

^^Champollion,  Notices  descriptives^  II,  332;  Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions, 
II,  60;  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  138,  h, 

®Prisse,  Monuments  igyptiens,  19. 


REIGN  OF  RAMSES  II 
GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION® 

251.  This  is  the  longest  inscription  of  Ramses  II’s  reign. 
Together  with  the  KubMn  Stela,  it  has  been  regarded  as 
the  most  important  source  for  his  youth  and  early  regency. 
It  shows  us  the  young  king  in  his  first  year  journeying  to 
Thebes,*’  and  in  mentioning  a  statue  of  his  father  erected  by 
Ramses  on  that  occasion  at  Thebes,  the  narrator  takes  oc¬ 
casion  to  summarize  the  king’s  works  in  provision  for  his 
father  (11.  22-26).' 

252.  Ramses  now  sails  to  Abydos  (11.  26-32),  where  he 
finds  Seti  I’s  beautiful  temple  (Baedeker,  218-23)  unfinished, 
and  its  endowments  violated  (11.  32,  33).  He  immediately 
summons  his  court  and  officials  (11.  33, 34),  who  come  in  with 
the  usual  fulsome  adulation  demanded  by  court  etiquette  (11. 
34-40),  after  which  Ramses  announces  to  them  his  intention 
to  complete  his  father’s  buildings  (11.  40-43),  and  takes 


*Cut  on  the  wall  of  the  portico  behind  the  colonnade  at  the  rear  of  the  first 
court  in  the  famous  temple  of  Seti  I  at  Abydos.  The  inscription  is  in  116  vertical 
lines,  the  first  21  of  which  accompany  a  relief  and  are  shorter.  Numerous  lacuna; 
break  the  text.  Published  by  Maspero  (from  a  copy  by  Dev^ria):  Essai  sur 
V inscription  dHicatoire  du  temple  d^Ahydos,  par  G.  Maspero  (Paris,  1867);  again 
by  Mariette  in  1880  {Abydos ^  I,  5-9).  I  also  had  a  collation  of  Mariette  with  the 
original  for  the  Berlin  dictionary  by  Borchardt. 

b Whence  he  came  is  quite  uncertain.  Maspero  {Struggle  of  the  Nations, 
387)  states  that  he  came  from  Ethiopia,  but  for  this  I  find  no  evidence.  On  the 
contrary,  the  mention  of  the  statue  erected  in  Memphis  (1.  22)  may  indicate  that 
he  came  from  the  north. 

cLl.  1-2 1  contain  only  the  dialogue  between  the  divinities  (11. 1-17)  in  the  relief 
and  Ramses  (11.  18-21).  The  translation  begins  with  the  words  of  Ramses  (11. 
18-21).  The  works  summarized  in  11.  22-26  are  (except  the  statues)  not  yet  under¬ 
taken  at  the  time  of  the  visit  to  Thebes;  but,  being  complete  at  the  time  of  the 
composition  of  this  inscription,  the  narrator  inserts  the  summary  here,  forgetting 
that  they  were  not  complete  at  the  time  of  which  he  is  writing. 


GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION 


§  254] 


103 


occasion  to  recall  to  his  courtiers  how  his  father  had  him  pub¬ 
licly  crowned  coregent  while  a  mere  child,  giving  him  ex¬ 
tensive  authority  and  a  harem  (11.  43-48).  He  proceeds  to 
describe  his  administration  as  coregent  (11.  48-50),  and 
reiterates  in  conclusion  his  determination  to  complete  his 
father’s  buildings  (11.  51-55).  Hereupon  the  courtiers 
fairly  outdo  themselves  in  a  long-winded  eulogy  of  the  dutiful 
son  (11.  55-69).  The  narrator  now  recounts  the  summons 
to  the  architects,  artists,  and  workmen,  who  are  commis¬ 
sioned  to  complete  Seti  I’s  temple.  At  the  same  time  the 
king  re-enacts  and  reorganizes  his  father’s  endowments  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  temple  and  its  mortuary  service 
(11.  69-75). 

253.  When  all  is  done,  Ramses  addresses  his  deceased 
father,  calling  attention  to  all  these  pious  works  for  his 
father’s  welfare  in  the  hereafter  (11.  75-93),  and  showing  how 
it  will  be  to  his  father’s  interest  to  ensure  unbroken  con¬ 
tinuance  of  these  favors,  by  inducing  the  gods,  among  whom 
he  now  is,  to  grant  Ramses  a  long  reign.  Ramses  assures 
his  father  that  his  (Seti’s)  mortuary  offerings  shall  be  main¬ 
tained  as  long  as  he  (Ramses)  continues  on  the  throne  (11. 
93-98).  To  this  remarkable  compact  Seti,  in  reply,  agrees, 
intercedes  with  the  gods,  and  assures  Ramses  that  the  gods 
have  decreed  “  him  an  eternal  reign,  and  that  he  himself 
enjoys  the  greatest  felicity  because  of  his  son’s  provision 
for  him  (11.  98-116). 

254.  The  inscription,  it  will  be  observed,  is  historically 
very  important,  as  well  as  interesting  in  several  respects. 
The  statements  regarding  Ramses’  coregency  in  youth  are 
detailed  and  circumstantial.  His  appearance  in  public  for 
coronation,  in  the  presence  of  his  father,  reminds  us  of  the 


aSee  similar  prayer  of  Seti,  quoted  with  1.  103,  p.  115,  n.  b. 


104  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [§255 

similar  account  of  Hatshepsut’s  coronation  (II,  215  ff.). 
But  the  evidence  of  the  Karnak  reliefs  (§§i23ff.)  is  so 
conclusively  against  his  ever  having  been  so  chosen  by 
Seti  that,  like  the  said  story  of  Hatshepsut’s  coronation,  we 
must  regard  it  as  a  fabrication.*  Such  a  fiction  could 
hardly  have  been  published  immediately  on  Seti’s  death, 
and  when  we  remember  Ramses’  extraordinary  compact 
with  his  deceased  father,  the  question  arises  whether  the 
inscription  is  a  later  product  of  Ramses’  reign,  and  his  long 
life  is  the  source  which  suggested  the  fiction  of  the  compact, 
to  which  the  narrator  now  attributes  Ramses’  remarkable 
longevity. ’’  In  any  case,  the  inscription  was  written  after 
the  completion  of  his  works  for  his  father,  and  after  some  of 
his  foreign  campaigns  (1.  93). 

255.  The  king’s  visit  to  Thebes  in  his  first  year  is  cor¬ 
roborated  by  an  independent  document  in  the  Theban 
tomb  of  the  High  Priest  of  Amon,  Nebunnef  {Nb-wn-nf).’^ 
A  relief  in  this  tomb  shows  Ramses  II,  accompanied  by  his 
queen,  Mutnofret,  and  the  court,  addressing  Osiris.  Be¬ 
fore  the  god  is  the  following  inscription: 

256.  Year  i,  third  month  of  the  first  season, - when  his  maj¬ 

esty  went  north  from  the  Southern  City,  fhavingJ  celebrated  the  pleasing 

ceremonies  of  his  father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes . ,®  [Mut] 

. ,*  Khonsu  in  Thebes,  Beautiful  Rest,  and  the  Divine  Ennead 


•See  also  introduction  to  Kubb^n  inscription  (§283),  and  my  “Ramses  II 
and  the  Princes  in  the  Karnak  Reliefs  of  Seti  I”  {Zeitschrift  fiir  dgypUsche  Sprache, 

37. 138  f)- 

'>Against  this  is  the  motive  for  the  account  of  his  appointment  as  coregent — 
a  motive  which  would  have  been  influential  only  immediately  after  his  accession, 
v/hcn  he  desired  to  support  the  legitimacy  of  his  reign. 

cChampollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  535,  851,  852;  and  Lepsius,  Denkmdler; 
Text,  III,  239. 

dThe  space  for  the  day  is  left  vacant  in  the  original. 

•Further  titles  of  Amon  and  Mut,  omitted  by  Champollion. 


§26o] 


GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION 


los 


dwelling  in  Thebes;  at  his  beautiful  feast  of  Opet  (named):  “Return- 
ing-Thence-with-Praise.*’ 

257.  As  Nebunnef  was  High  Priest,  this  great  feast  of 
Amon  is  naturally  recorded  in  his  tomb.  It  is  the  same 
feast,  celebrated  in  the  month  Hathor,  by  Thutmose  III“ 
on  his  return  from  his  first  campaign  (II,  541,  550),  and, 
this  being  the  first  celebration  of  it  in  Ramses’  reign,  it 
naturally  called  him  to  Thebes,  whose  powerful  priesthood 
he  could  not  fail  to  conciliate  by  appearing  at  their  temple  in 
person  on  such  an  important  occasion. 

258.  Returning  now  to  our  great  document,  we  find  in 
the  relief  scene  preceding  the  long  inscription  that  the 
young  King  Ramses  II  appears  offering  an  image  of  the 
goddess  Mat  (Truth)  to  Osiris,  Isis,  and  his  deified  father, 
Seti  I.  The  speeches  of  the  divinities  are  of  solely  religious 
interest.  The  speech  of  Ramses,  which  merges  into  the 
long  inscription  itself,  is  of  historical  importance,  and 
begins  the  following  translation: 

Speech  of  Ramses 

259.  **Utterance  of  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Usermare- 
Setepnere  (Ramses  II)  in  the  presence  of  his  father,  Osiris;  “I  champion 
thee,  *9like  thy  son,  Horus;  I  have  done  according  to  [his]^  doing.  I 
repeat  for  thee  monuments  in  the  necropolis,  *°I  double  offerings  for 
thy  ka.  I  answer  on  behalf  of  my  father,  he  being  in  the  Nether  World 

(Dw  ^  •  /),  in  the  place  f - \  ^Hor  the  son  becomes  the  champion  of  his 

father,  like  Horus,  when  he  championed  his  father,  forming  him  that 
formed  him,  fashioning  him  that  fashioned  him,  making  to  live  the 
name  of  him  that  begat  him,  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
Ramses  (II),  given  life,  like  Re,  forever,  beloved  of  Osiris,  lord  of 
Abydos.” 

Voyage  to  Thebes,  Summary  of  Ramses^  Works  for  His  Father 

260.  **When  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands  arose  as  king,  to  act  as  cham¬ 
pion  of  his  father,  in  the  year  i,  on  his  first  voyage  to  Thebes,  he  fashioned 


»Also  by  Piankhi  (IV,  836). 


bCf.  1.  43‘ 


io6 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§261 


statues  of  his  father;  King  Menmare  (Seti  I)  was  he;  one  in  Thebes, 
another  in  Memphis,  in  the  temple  which  he  built  for  them,  ®3an  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  beauty  of  that  which  was  in  Abydos  of  Tow^r,  which  he  loved, 
which  his  heart  has  desired  since  he  was  on  earth,  the  soil  of  Wennofer 
(Osiris).  He  repeated  the  restoration  of  the  monuments  of  his  father, 
which  are  in  the  cemetery,  making  his  name  live,  fashioning  his  statues, 
giving  offerings  abiding  *4for  his  august  ka  —  his  house,  supplying  his 
altars,  upbuilding  that  which  was  fallen  in  the  house  which  he  loved, 
erecting  the  seats  in  his  temple,  laying  its  walls,  setting  up  its  doorways, 
erecting  the  ruins  in  the  seat  of^  his  father,  in  the  district  of  Osiris 

-  ^5the  double  facade  made  therein,  in  everything  which  the 

Great  in  Victory,  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Ramses  (II), 
given  life,  made  for  his  father,  Osiris,  the  King  Menmare  (Seti  I), 
triumphant.  He  established  for  him  possessions,  supplied  with  food  of 

the  r - his  heart  *^being  kindly  disposed  toward  him  that  begat 

him,  his  feelings  inclining  toward  him  that  brought  him  up. 

Ramses  Sails  from  Thebes  to  Abydos 

261.  On  one  of  these  days  it  happened  in  the  year  i,  the  third^ 

month  of  the  first  season,  the  twenty-third  day,  at  the  ffeast^]^ - 

after  the  return  of  Amon  to  Karnak,  that  he  (the  king)  came  forth,  favored 
with  might  and  victory  from  Amon-Atum  in  Thebes,  and  he  rewarded 
him  with  myriads  of  years,  even  to  the  duration  of  Re  in  heaven.  Hear 

- fexaltedl  forever  and  ever.  He  raised  his  hand,  bearing  the 

censer,  to  the  horizon  of  him  who  abides  in  the  West,  his  offering  being 
excellent  and  acceptable  to  his  ffatheri],  the  lord  of  love.  His  majesty 
departed  from  the  Southern  City - Re. 

(He)  began  the  way,^  to  make  the  voyage,  while  the  royal  barges 
illuminated  the  flood,  turning  down-stream  to  the  seat  of  might,  “  House  ®- 


*There  is  a  superfluous  n  here  which  suggests  *^seat  of  truths  jor  his  jather,*^  etc. 

'^Borchardt  has  only  one  month-sign. 

cEven  in  Ramses  Ill's  day  the  Feast  of  Opet  closed  at  least  eight  days  before 
this;  this  must  have  been  the  Feast  of  Hathor,  at  which  Amon  also  celebrated; 
but  the  king  must  have  been  at  Thebes  during  the  great  Feast  of  Opet,  which  just 
preceded. 

<iFor  the  usual  form  of  this  phrase,  see  Amarna  Landmarks  (II,  960,  1.  6),  or 
Scarab  of  Wild  Cattle  Hunt  (II,  864). 

®This  is  the  earliest  occurrence  of  the  city  of  “  Ramses.”  It  is  not  clear  why 
it  should  be  mentioned,  unless  the  king  was  going  farther  north  to  the  Delta. 


GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION 


107 


§264] 


of-Ramses-Meriamon-Great-in-Victory.”  His  majesty  entered,  to  see 
his  father,  the  voyage  of  the  waters  of  the  canal  of  Abydos®  (Nf-wr),  in 
order  to  found  offerings  for  Wennofer,  consisting  of  every  good  thing, 

that  which  his  ka  loves,  in  order  to  praise  3° - for  his  brother, 

Onouris,  son  of  Re  in  truth,  like  himself. 

Ramses  Finds  Cemetery  Buildings  in  Ruins 

262.  He  found  the  buildings  of  the  cemetery  belonging  to  former 
kings,  their  tombs^  in  Abydos,  beginning  to  be  in  ruin.  The  half  of 

them  were  in  process  of  construction  31 - in  the  ground,  their 

walls  flyingT]  incomplete,  not  one  brick  touching^  another.  That  which 
was  only  begun*^  had  become  mere  rubbish.  There  was  no  one  building 

- who  was  carrying  out  according  to  his  plans,  since  their  lord 

had  flown  to  heaven.  There  was  no  3*other  son,  who  renewed  the 
monuments  of  his  father,  which  were  in  the  cemetery. 

Seti  Vs  Temple  Unfinished^  Its  Endowments  Violated 

263.  Lo,  the  house  of  Menmare  (Seti  I),  its  front  and  its  rear  were 
in  process  of  construction,  when  he  entered  into  heaven.  Its  monu¬ 
ments  were  not  finished,  its  columns  were  not  set  up  on  its  *^platform^, 
its  statue  was  upon  the  grourld,  it  was  not  ^sfashioned  after  the  regula¬ 
tion  for  it,  of  the  gold-house.  Its  divine  offerings  had  ceased,  the 
lay  priesthood  likewise.  That  which  was  brought  ffromi  its  fields  was 
taken  away,  their  boundaries  were  not  fixed  in  the  land.® 

Ramses  Summons  His  Court  and  Officials 

264.  Said  his  majesty  to  the  wearer  of  the  royal  seal  who  was  at 
his  side:  “Speak  thou,  call  34the  court,  the  king’s-grandees,  all  the  com¬ 
manders  of  the  army,  all  the  chiefs  of  works,  and  the  keepers  of  the 


“Abydos  lies  seven  miles  from  the  river,  and  is  evidently  connected  with  it  by 
a  canal  which  the  king  here  enters.  Compare  the  same  voyage  of  King  Neferho- 
tep  (I,  763,  11.  16,  17). 

^These  can  hardly  be  anything  else  than  the  tombs  of  the  First  Dynasty  kings. 
That  some  of  them  should  be  in  course  of  construction  may  mean  that  chapels 
were  being  erected  for  these  kings  (their  halls  in  Seti’s  temple)  or  that  repairs 
were  going  on. 

cLit.,  embracing 

^Mshn  means  birth- ornur  sing-chamber*'  which  maybe  figurative  for  “begin¬ 
ning,”  that  which  was  incipient.  Suggested  by  Erman. 

“See  Seti  I*s  solemn  adjuration  to  respect  his  endowment  of  this  very  temple 
(i  180,  11.  11-13,  15-19)* 


io8 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§265 


house  of  rolls  (books).”  They  were  brought  before  his  majesty,  their 
noses  were  bowed  in  the  dust,  their  knees  were  on  the  earth  3  sin  adora¬ 
tion,  smelling  the  earth ;  their  hands  were  uplifted  to  his  majesty,  they 
praised  this  Good  God,  magnifying  his  beauty  in  the  presence.  They 
told  the  story  according  to  that  which  he  had  done,  they  likened  his 
brave  deeds,  as  they  were;  every  word  which  came  out  of  their  mouths, 
was  that  which  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands  had  actually  done. 
were  upon  their  bellies,  f^wallowingi  upon  the  earth  before  his  majesty, 
saying: 

The  Court  Eulogizes  the  King 

265.  *‘We  come  to  thee,  lord  of  heaven,  lord  of  earth.  Re,  life  of  the 
whole  earth,  lord  of  duration,  of  fruitful  revolution,®  Atum  for  the 
people,  lord  of  destiny,  creator  of  Renenet,'^  Khnum  37who  fashioned 
the  people  (r^y*/),  giver  of  breath  into  the  nostrils  of  all,  making  all  the 
gods  live,  pillar  of  heaven,  support  of  earth,  f ^  adjusting  the  Two 
Lands,  lord  of  food,  plentiful  in  grain,  in  whose  footsteps  is  the  harvest 
goddess,  38maker  of  the  great,  fashioner  of  the  lowly,  whose  word  pro¬ 
duces  food,  the  lord  vigilant  when  all  men  sleep,  whose  might  defends 
Egypt,  valiant  in  foreign  lands,  who  returns  when  he  has  triumphed, 
whose  sword  protects  the  Egyptians,  beloved  of  truth,  in  which  he  lives 
39by  his  laws,  defender  of  the  Two  Lands,  rich  in  years,  great  in  victory^ 
the  fear  of  whom  exp)els  foreign  lands,  our  king,  our  lord,  our  Sun,  by 
the  words  of  whose  mouth  Atum  lives.  Lo,  we  are  now  before  thy 
majesty,  that  thou  mayest  decree  to  us  the  life  that  thou  givest,  ^°Phar- 
raoh,  L.  P.  H.,  breath  of  life,  who  makes  all  men  live  when  he  has 
shone  on  them.” 

Rainses  Announces  His  Intention  to  Complete  His  Father^s  Buildings 

266.  Said  his  majesty  to  them:  “Behold,  I  have  caused  that  they 
call  you,  because  of  a  plan  that  is  before  me.  I  have  seen  that  the 
buildings  of  the  cemetery,  the  tombs  that  are  in  Abydos,  -♦^and  the 
works  therein,  are  in  an  unfinished  state,  since  the  time  of  their  lord 
until  this  day.  When  a  son  arose  in  the  place  of  his  father,  the  monu¬ 
ments  of  him  that  begat  him  were  not  restored.  Then  I  conversed  with 
my  own  heart:  ‘It  is  a  happy  example,  to  provide  for  ^^them  that  have 


»The  king  is  often  called  the  source  of  the  land’s  fruitfulness;  hence  the  same 
here,  where  he  is  called  Re,  the  sun. 

'’Goddess  of  birth,  destiny,  and  good  fortune. 


{268} 


GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION 


109 


passed  away,  excellent  to  behold  good - fHorus  who  shaped^  the 

thought  of  the  son,  that  he  should  incline  the  heart  after  his  father. 
My  heart  leads  me  in  doing  excellent  things  for  Memeptah  (Seti  I). 
I  will  cause  it  to  be  said  forever  and  ever:  ‘‘It  was  his  son,  who  made 
his  name  live.” '  May  my  father,  Osiris,  ^^favor  me  with  the  long  life 
of  his  son.  Horns,  according  as  I  do  that  which  [he]  did;  I  do  excellent 
things,  as  he  did  excellent  things,  for  him  who  begat  me.” 

Rainses  Relates  His  Appointment  as  Coregent 

267.  “  I  came  forth  from  Re,  falthoughi]  ye  say,  from  Menmare 
(Seti  I),  who  brought  me  up.®  ^-♦The  All-Lord  himself  made  me  great, 
while  I  was  a  child,  until  I  reigned.  He  gave  to  me  the  land  while  I 
was  in  the  egg;  the  great  smelled  the  earth  before  me,  when  I  was 
installed  as  eldest  son,  as  hereditary  prince  upon  the  throne  of  Keb. 

I  reported  - ^  as  lord  (hry-d  ^  d  of  infantry  and  chariotry.  When 

my  father  appeared  to  the  public,  I  being  a  child  between  his  arms. 
[He]  sa[id]  concerning  me:  “Crown  him  as  king,  that  I  may  see  his 
beauty  while  I  live  ^^with  him.”  [^Thereupon  approached*^  the  cour¬ 
tiers  (ymyw-f^nty),  to  set  the  double  diadem  upon  my  head.  “Place  for 
him  the  crown  upon  his  head,”  so  spake  he  concerning  me,  while  he 
was  upon  earth.  “Let  him  organize  this  land,  let  him  administer  — , 

let  him  show  his  face  to  the  people,”  so  spake  he  - because 

the  love  of  me  was  so  great  in  his  bowels.®  He  equipped  me  with 
•Tiouseholdi*  women,  a  royal  harem,  like  the  beauties  of  the  palace,  he 

chose  for  me  wives,  after - ,  taking  the  concubines  ^®of - 

his  — ,  seizing  ^ and  female  companions.” 

Ramses  Describes  His  Administration  as  Coregent 

268.  “  Lo,  I  was  Re  over  the  people  {rjj^y'  /),  those  of  the  South  and 

North  were  under  my  feet - it  was  I,  who  fset^  them  to  ^^^[rbuild- 

ingi]  — .  I  fashioned  my  father  in  gold  anew,  in  the  first  year  of  my 


^Or:  came  forth  from  Re,  [50]  say  ye,  while  Menmare  brought  me  up** 

^Maspero’s  (Dev^ria^s)  text  cannot  be  correct  here;  Borchardt  shows  only  the 
canal-sign  {mr)  with  the  land-wedge. 

cQn  the  following  passage,  see  Muller,  Liebespoesie,  5.  The  different  terms 
for  harem-women  are  not  exactly  determined  as  yet. 
dMuller,  “Abgeschlossene.” 


no 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§269 


appearance  (as  king).®  I  commanded  that  his  temple  be  prepared,  I 

established  his  fields - .  I  founded  for  him  offerings  for  his  ka. 

50 - wine,  incense,  all  fruit,  I  cultivated  trees,  growing  for  him. 

Lo,  his  house  was  under  my  charge,  all  its  works  were  under  my  author¬ 
ity,  since - as  a  child.” 

Ramses  Repeats  His  Intention  to  Complete  His  Father^s  Buildings 

269.  51 - my  father;  I  will  enlarge  them  anew.  As  for  the 

monuments,  I  will  not  neglect  his  seat,  after  the  manner  of  those  children 

who  forgot  [their]  father.  -  speak  of  —  s* -  a  son 

doeth  excellent  things.  My  mighty  deeds  for  my  father  as  a  child,  I 
will  now  complete,  being  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands;  I  will  ^  in  them 

in  the  proper  way - 53 - 1  will  lay  the  walls  in  the  temple 

of  him  that  begat  me.  I  will  charge  the  man  of  my  choice,  to  conduct 
this  work  therein.  I  will  mason  up  therein  the  br[eaches]  in  its  walls 

54 - j  its  pylon-towers  of - .  I  will  cover  its  house,  I  will 

•"erect^  its  columns,  I  will  set  stones  in  the  places  of  the  lower  founda¬ 
tion,  making  monument  upon  monument,  two  excellent  things  at  one 
time,  bearing  my  name'^  and  the  name  of  my  father,  for  the  son  ssis 
like  him  that  begat  him.” 

The  Court  Responds  with  an  Eulogy  0}  the  King 

270.  Then  spake  the  royal  companions,  and  they  answered  the 
Good  God:  ‘‘Thou  art  Re,  thy  body  is  his  body.  There  has  been  no 
ruler  like  thee,  (for)  thou  art  unique,  like  the  son  of  Osiris,  thou  hast 
achieved  the  like  of  his  designs  s^lsis  fhath  not  lovedi]  a  king  since  Re, 
except  thee  and  her  fsonij;  greater  is  that  which  thou  hast  done  than 
that  which  he  did  when  he  ruled  after  Osiris.  The  laws  of  the  land 
proceed  according  to  his  position.  The  son  is  compassionate  to  him 

that  made  him,  the  divine  seed - sThim  who  created  him  fin  the^ 

iefeg"*]  —  it^^  inclines  to  the  august  guardian.  None  hath  done  that 
which  Horus  did  for  his  father  to  this  day,  except  thy  majesty  — .  Thou 


*This  is  evidently  the  statue  of  1.  72,  and  the  reference  to  it  by  the  king  here, 
as  a  thing  of  the  past,  made  in  the  year  i,  is  an  anachronism  of  which  a  scribe, 
composing  the  inscription  at  a  time  when  all  the  events  it  narrates  were  past,  could 
easily  be  guilty. 

^Ramses  II*s  name  is,  indeed,  upon  many  portions  of  the  building  which  Seti 
built;  Seti*s  name  has  even  been  erased  to  make  room  for  it. 

«Viz.,  the  egg;  that  is,  the  young  King  Ramses  II. 


GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION 


III 


§  270 


hast  increased  that  which  has  been  done ;  what  s^example  of  excellence 

-  that  we  may  introduce  it,  to  tell  it  in  the  (royal)  presence  ? 

Who  shall  come,  that  he  may  recall  a  thing  proposed  to  thee*  ?  (but) 

thou  hast  led  the  ignorant  abroad - . - mild,  thy  heart 

is  kindly  toward  thy  father,  Menmare  (Seti  I),  ^othe  divine  father,  the 
beloved  of  a  god,  Seti-Merneptah,  triumphant.  Since  the  time  of  the  god, 
since  the  kings  have  taken  the  crown,  there  has  been  no  other  like  thee, 
neither  seen  in  face  nor  heard  in  speech.  [No  other]  son  has  repeated 
monuments  for  his  father.  Not  one  has  arisen,  ^°that  he  might  cham¬ 
pion  his  father,  (but)  every  man  deals  for  himself,  on  behalf  of  his  own 
name,  except  thee  and  Horus,  for  thou  art  like  the  son  of  Osiris.  Behold, 
thou  art  a  goodly  heir  like  him;  as  for  his  kingdom,  thou  administerest 
it  in  like  manner.  ‘^^As  for  him  who  doeth  that  which  the  god  did,  he 
shall  have  the  length  of  life  which  he  enjoyed.  Re  in  heaven  [is  joyous-] 
hearted,  his  divine  ennead  is  glad,  the  gods  are  satisfied  with  Egypt 

since  thy  coronation  as  king  of  the  Two  Lands.  Beautiful - 

is  thy  — ,  excellent  is  thy  truth,  it  has  reached  ‘^^heaven,  thy  plans  are 

right  in  the  estimation  of  Re,  Atum  is  delighted - ,  Wennofer  is  in 

triumph  at  that  which  thy  majesty  has  done  for  his  ka.  He  says: 

t - p  gjygj  tQ  duration  of  heaven,  his  two  heavens;* 

^^the  gods  of  the  secret  place  of  the  lord  of  the  nether  world  say;  ‘Thou 
shalt  be  upon  earth  like  Aton.*  Glad  is  the  heart  of  Merneptah  (Seti  I), 
his  name  shall  live  again,  (for)  thou  hast  fashioned  him  in  gold  and 

real  costly  stones, - his  —  of  electrum  - his  — ,  thou 

buildest  it  anew,  bearing  thy  name.  As  for  every  king^  who  is  in  heaven, 
whose  buildings  are  in  course  of  construction,  there  has  been  no  son 

(of  theirs)  doing  what  thou  hast  done,  since  Re  until  ^s[this  day]. - 

Thy  majesty  —  him;  that  which  he  did,  thou  hast  remembered,  when  it 
was  forgotten.  Thou  hast  restored  monuments  in  the  cemetery.  As  for 
every  plan  that  was  neglected,  thou  hast  carried  it  out  in  the  proper  way 

-  66 -  passes  away,  another  comes.  Thy  majesty  is 

King  of  Upper  Egypt  and  King  of  Lower  Egypt,  for  thou  doest  excellent 
things,  and  thy  heart  is  satisfied  in  doing  truth.  Those  things  which  are 

done  in  the  presence  of  the  gods,  shall  be  heard - - 

when  [thou]  rise[st  to]  heaven,  when  thy  beauty  ascends  to  the  horizon, 
the  eyes  see  thy  excellent  deeds  before  gods  and  men.  Thou  art  the  one 


•The  king  is  the  one  who  originates  and  proposes. 

'This  is  doubtless  a  reference  to  the  list  of  kings  in  the  Abydos  temple. 


II2 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§271 


who  doest  it;  thou  art  the  one  who  repeatest  monument  on  monument 
for  the  gods,  according  as  thy  father,  Re,  commanded  ^*that  thy  name 
should  be  [Tcnowni]  in  every  land,  from  Khenthennofer  of  the  South, 
northward,  from  the  J^shores*  of  the  sea  to  the  countries  of  Retenu 
{Rlnw)^  and  among  the  settlements  and  strongholds  of  the  king,  the 

towns  colonized  and  supplied  with  people^  -  every  city 

fshould  know!]  that  thou  art  the  god  of  all  people,  that  they  may  awake, 
to  give  to  thee  incense  at  the  command  of  thy  father,  Atum;  that  Egypt 
as  well  as  the  Red  Land  may  adore  thee.^^ 

Ramses  Completes  and  Endows  His  Father's  Temple 

271.  Now,  after  - these  utterances  which  these  nobles  [had 

spoken]  in  the  presence  of  their  lord,  his  majesty  commanded  to  com¬ 
mission  the  chiefs  of  works;  he  set  apart  soldiers,  workmen,  carvers 

with  the  chisel,  - draughtsmen,  all  ranks  of  artificers,  to  build  the 

holy  place  of  his  father,  to  erect  that  which  was  in  ruins  in  the  cemetery, 
the  mortuary  house  of  his  father.  Lo,  ’^he  [begajn  to  fashion  his 
statue  in  the  year  i  while  the  offerings  were  doubled  before  his  ka,  his 
temple  was  properly  victualed,  and  he  supplied  his  necessities.  He 
established  his  ritual  roll  of  fields,  peasant-slaves  (mry't)  and  cattle. 
73He  appointed  priests  over  their  affairs,  a  prophet  to  upraise  the  hands 

- his  people  under - to  conduct  affairs - under 

him;  his  numerous  granaries  with  grain  -  his  possessions. 

The  great  officials  in  South  and  North  are  under  the  authority  of  his 
steward,  being  an  act  of  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  User- 
mare-Setepnere;  Son  of  Re,  Meriamon-Ramses  (II),  given  life,  like  Re, 
forever  and  ever,  for  his  father.  King  Menmare  (Seti  I),  triumphant,  — 

- [under]  the  authority  of  Wennofer.  He  did  it  again  for  his  ka  in 

Thebes,®  Heliopolis,  and  Memphis^  (where)  his  statues  rested  in  their 
places  in  all  his  J'stations'*®  of  the  ^ \ 


‘^Scc  Muller,  Asien  und  Europa,  269,  270. 

'^Doubtless  at  the  same  time  that  he  set  up  one  in  Thebes  and  another  in 
Memphis  (1.  22). 

cA  reference  to  Ramses  II^s  work  on  the  Theban  mortuary  temple  of  Seti  I 
at  Kurna. 

dif  Seti  I  had  temples  at  Heliopolis  and  Memphis,  they  have  now  utterly  van¬ 
ished;  but  this  remark  may  apply  only  to  his  statues. 

^Where  a  statue  stopped  when  carried  in  festival  processions  ?  But  Spiegel- 
berg  (Rechnungetif  58)  thinks  it  means  “bazaar,  market,  or  court.” 


GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION 


”3 


§274] 


Ramses  Addresses  His  Father,  Narrating  His  Good  Deeds  to  Him 

272.  Then  spake  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Ramses  II,® 
given  life,  ’‘^sending  up^  that  which  he  had  done  for  his  father,  the 
Osiris,  King  Menmare  (Seti  I),  triumphant;  saying:  Awake  thou,  (lift) 
thy  face  to  heaven,  that  thou  mayest  see  Re,  O  my  father,  Merneptah 
(Seti  I),  who  art  a  god.  Behold,  I  am  making  thy  name  to  live,  I  have 
protected  thee,  I  give  attention  to  thy  temple,  77thy  offerings  are  estab¬ 
lished.  Thou  restest  in  the  Nether  World  {Dw'^'t),  like  Osiris,  while  I 
shine  as  Re  for  the  people,  being  upon  the  great  throne  of  Atum,  like 
Horus,  son  of  Isis,  who  protected  his  father.  ’*How  [happy]  for  thee, 

who  begattest  me - since  thou  comest  as  one  living  again.  I  have 

fashioned  thee,  I  have  built  the  house  thou  lovest,  wherein  is  thy  statue 
in  the  cemetery  of  Abydos,  region  of  eternity.  I  have  founded  offerings 
^«>[for]  thy  s[tatues],  the  daily  offerings  come  to  thee.  [I]  am  he  that 
doeth  that  which  is  lacking  to  thee ;  I  do  it  for  thee,  every  desire  of  thy 
heart,  the  excellent  thing  in  thy  name.  I  assess  for  thee  the  *‘officials^ 

(w  ^  dy'  w)  - works  for  thy  ka,  in  order  to  offer®  for  thee  upon  the 

ground,  with  bread  and  drink.  I  have  come  myself,  myself  (sic !),  in  order 
to  see  thy  temple  beside  Wennofer,  sovereign  of  eternity.  I  have  rfinished^ 
the  work  in  it,  I  have  laid  out  the  I'ground^,  **I  —  that  which  thou 
desirest,  making  thy  every  house  wherein  I  have  established  thy  name 
forever.  [I]  am  he  that  doeth  according  to  truth,  that  it  (truth)  may 
flourish. 

273.  ‘‘I  have  given  to  thee  the  Southerners,  offering  gifts  to  thy 
temple,  and  the  Northerners,  **  (bringing)  their  tribute  before  thy  beauti¬ 
ful  face.  I  have  collected  all  them  that  owe  thee  dues,  united  in  one 
body,  under  the  administration  of  the  prophet  of  thy  temple,  in  order 
to  make  thy  property  a  permanent  whole,*^  to  be  brought  ®3[to]  thy 
temple  ** — forever.’’ 

274.  ‘‘I  made  splendid  thy  treasury,  filled  with  possessions,  the 
heart’s  desire,  which  I  have  given  to  thee,  together  with  thy  dues.  I 
have  given  to  thee  a  ship  (mnS),  bearing  cargoes  upon  the  sea,  conveying 
to  thee  ®^the  great  fmarvels”*]  of  God’s-Land,  and  the  merchants  doing 
merchandising,  bearing  their  wares  and  their  impost  therefrom  in  gold, 
silver,  and  copper.” 


•Full  double  name.  Wiz.,  to  heaven.  ^lit.,  ** sprinkle**  or  ** sow** 
** causing  thy  property  to  become  abiding  in  one  body** 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§27S 


114 


275.  ^‘I  have  made  for  thee  calculations  of  the  fields,  which  had 

been  only  verbal  -  on  high  [land],  calculated  in  fields.  I 

equipped  them  with  inspectors,  together  with  husbandmen,  to  produce 
clean  grain  for  thy  divine  offerings.  I  have  given  to  thee  barges 
with  crews,  and  artisans  hewing  —  without  ceasing  to  sail  to  thy 
temple.” 

276.  ‘‘I  have  formed  for  thee  herds  of  all  small  cattle,  faithfully  to 
supply  thy  offerings.  I  levied  for  thee  wild  fowl  from  the  rinclosed"* 

marsh ;  others  - live  geese  for  maintaining  those  that  were  hatched. 

I  put  fishermen  on  the  waters,  on  every  pool,  in  order  to  furnish  for  thee 
imposts  by  the  shipload.” 

277.  ‘‘  I  equipped  thy  temple  with  every  office  - of  my  majesty. 

Thy  lay  priesthood  of  the  temple  has  its  full  complement  of  heads.® 
The  peasant-slaves  are  assessed  for  woven  stuff,  for  thy  wardrobe,  and 
(as  for)  thy  serfs  of  the  fields  of  every  district,  every  man  brings  ®<>their 
(sic!)  impost,  to  fill  thy  house.” 

278.  Lo,  thou  hast  entered  into  heaven,  thou  followest  Re,  thou 
minglest  with  stars  and  moon.  Thou  restest  in  the  nether  world,  like 
those  who  are  therein,  beside  Wennofer,  lord  of  eternity;  ^othy  two 
[arms]  draw  Atum  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  like  the  unresting  stars  and 
the  imperishable'^  stars,  while  thou  art  on  the  prow  of  the  barque  of 
myriads  of  years.  When  Re  rises  in  heaven,  thy  two  eyes  are  upon  his 
beauty;  «>^when  Atum  [enters]®  into  the  earth,  thou  art  among  his  fol¬ 
lowers.  Thou  hast  entered  into  the  hidden  chamber  before  its  lord; 
thy  going  is  afar  in  the  midst  of  the  Nether  World;  thou  hast  associated 
thyself  with  the  mortuary  gods.  Lo,  ^*[1]  pray  for  the  breath  of  thy 
august  nostrils.  I  mention  thy  name  many  times  daily,  I  —  my  father 

^ - - —  I  tell  of  thy  valor,  when  I  am  in  a  foreign 

country.^  I  lay  down  for  thee  gifts,  my  hand  bears  offerings  for  thy 
name,  for  thy  —  in  thy  every  place.” 


aViz.,  “people,”  often  referred  to  as  **headsy**  like  our  “head  of  cattle.” 

^The  two  names  literally  mean:  ** those  who  cannot  rest,^*  and  ** those  who 
cannot  perish**  They  are  probably  the  stars  of  the  southern  and  northern  heavens 
(Brugsch,  Aegyptologicy  321). 

cQnly  the  determinative  of  a  verb  of  going  is  visible. 

<^There  is  no  indication  that  this  is  a  reference  to  a  particular  campaign,  and 
the  statement  that  it  refers  to  Ramses  Il’s  Ethiopic  campaign  (Maspero,  Struggle 
oj  the  Nations^  387),  in  which  it  is  averred  he  was  engaged  at  his  father’s  death, 
lacks  foundation. 


GREAT  ABYDOS  INSCRIPTION 


§281] 


IIS 


Ramses  Prays  His  Father  to  Intercede  in  His  Behalf 

279.  ‘‘Mayest  thou  speak  to  Re - —  life  to  his  son, 

Wennofer,  with  a  loving  heart.  Grant  lifetime  upon  lifetime,  united 
in  jubilees  for  Usermare-Setepnere  (Ramses  II),  given  life.  It  will  be 
well  for  thee,  that  I  should  be  king  forever,  ^>s(for)  thou  wilt  be  —  by  a 
good  son,  who  remembers  his  father;  (for)  I  will  take  counsel  for  thy 
temple,  every  day,  and  for  the  affairs  of  thy  ka,  in  every  matter.  If  I 
hear  of  any  damage  <><^about  to  happen,  I  will  command  to  remove  it 
instantly  in  every  matter.  Thou  shalt  be  as  if  thou  livedst,  while  I 
reign.  I  shall  look  to  thy  house  every  day.  —  I  have  — ,  my  heart 
shall  incline  after  thee,  I  shall  champion  thee  and  thy  name,  while  thou 
art  in  the  nether  world.  Excellent  indeed  shall  it  be  for  thee,  while  I 
am;  while  Ramses,  given  life,  like  Re,  forever,  o*|Jthe  son^]  of  Re,  lives.” 

The  Deceased  Seti  I  Replies  to  His  Son^s  Prayer 

280.  Then  was  King  Menmare  (Seti  I),  triumphant  (w  ^  ^  an 
excellent  soul  {h  ^),  like  Osiris,  rejoicing  over  all  that  which  his  son,  the 
doer  of  excellent  things.  King  ^^Ramses  II,®  had  done,  and  praising  all 
his  beauty,  to  Re-Harakhte,  and  to  the  gods  who  are  in  the  netherworld, 
while  he  spoke  in  i — ^  ^®°as  a  father  on  earth  speaks  with  his  son, 
saying: 

281.  ‘‘Let  thy  heart  be  very  glad,  O  my  beloved  son,  Usermare- 

Setepnere,  given  life,  in - giving  to  thee  [myriads]  of  years, 

eternity  upon  the  Horus-throne  *°^of  the  living.  Osiris  has  besought 
for  thee  the  duration  of  heaven,  wherein  thou  risest  like  Re  at  early 
morning.  Life  and  prosperity  shall  be  with  thee,  —  truth,  might,  and 
joy  of  heart,  for  him  who  is  rich  in  years.  *®*Thine  shall  be  might  and 
victory,  O  thou  great  in  victory;  health  shall  be  for  thy  limbs  like 
(those  of)  Re  in  heaven.  Joy  and  rejoicing  shall  be  in  thy  every  abode, 
O  king,  defending  Egypt,  binding  the  barbarians,  spending  the  eternity 
*°3of  thy  lifetime  as  King  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  as  King  of  Lower  Egypt, 
as  Atum  flourishes  at  rising  and  setting.  Behold,  I  say  to  Re'^  with  a 


“Full  double  name,  with  the  usual  salutations  after  it,  which  have  been  omitted 
in  the  translation,  in  order  to  show  more  clearly  the  connection. 

similar  prayer  of  Seti’s  is  found  at  Kurna  (Lepsius,  Denkmdlert  III,  150,  a), 
in  which  he  addresses  Amon  thus:  Grant  thou  to  him  {Ramses  II)  eternity ^  thai 
he  may  make  my  name  to  live^  hy  reason  of  the  command  that  comes  out  of  ihy  mouth'' 
Here  we  see  the  same  compact  as  in  the  Abydos  inscription. 


ii6  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [§281 


loving  heart:  ‘Grant  to  him®  eternity  upon  earth  IQiepri.’  I 

have  repeated  to  Osiris  when  I  entered  before  him:  ‘Double  thou  for 
him  the  duration  of  thy  son,  Homs.’  Behold,  Re  said  in  the  horizon  of 
heaven:  ‘Grant  eternity,  everlastingness,  myriads  of  years  *°sof  royal 
jubilees  for  the  son  of  his  body,  the  beloved  Meriamon-Ramses,  given 
life,  doer  of  excellent  things.’  Atum  has  decreed  to  thee  his  duration 
as  king.  Might  and  victory  shall  be  united  *°^behind  thee.  Thoth 
writes  them  at  the  side  of  the  All-Lord,  and  the  Great  Ennead  say:  ‘Re, 
in  his  barque,  lord  of  the  morning-barque,  collects  them  for  him;  his 
eye  sees  *®7that  which  thou  hast  so  excellently  done.  When  he  sails 
the  heavens  with  the  wind  every  day,  great  joy  is  behind  him,  because 
he  remembers  thy  beauty;  until  Atum  *o®sets  in  the  land  of  the  West, 
thy  love  is  in  his  body  every  day.’  Behold,  Wennofer  is  lord  of  triumph 
(m  ^  ^  ~Jj>rw)  through  that  which  thy  majesty  has  done  in  the  place  of 
truth.  I  [Horus]^  awake  him  at  the  reminder  of  thy  goodness;  my 
heart  hath  joy  indeed,  because  of  the  eternity  which  he  has  decreed  for 
thee.  Behold,  I  have  received  the  things  which  thou  hast  given  to  me: 
my  bread  and  my  water  with  gladness  of  heart,  breath  “^[reaches  my, 
nostrils,  because  of  the  deeds  of  a  son,  whose  heart  chooses  to  protect, 
free  from  negligence,  knowing  that  which  is  seemly.  Thou  hast  repeated 
monument  on  monument  for  Osiris  under  my  authority  in  the  presence 

- [in]  the  midst  of  Abydos  (Nfw-wr).  I  am  magnified  because 

of  all  that  which  thou  hast  done  for  me;  I  am  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
abode  of  the  dead,  I  am  transformed,  I  have  become  a  god  more  ”*beau- 
tiful  than  before,  since  thy  heart  has  inclined  to  me,  while  I  am  in  the 
nether  world.  I  am  thy  true  father,  who  am  a  god;  I  have  mingled 
with  the  gods,  following  Aton;  I  “^[know]  him  who  dwells  in  the 

barque - like  one  in - who  is  in - .  ”^He  [remem]- 

bers  thy  beauty - .  Behold,  thou  hast  a  long  life.  Re  has 

decreed  to  thee - ,  forever,  like - .  Thou  art  the  living 

—  of  Atum,  thy  every  word  “^comes  to  pass  like  (that  of)  the  All-Lord. 
Thou  art  the  favorite  egg  of  Khepri,  the  water  of  a  god  [which  came 
forth]  from  him.  What  thou  begettest  is  that  which  Re  himself  has 
made;  he  said  to  thee:  ‘ - fas  the  maker  oP - **^a  guar- 


•Text  has  thee,**  but  as  Seti  here  speaks  to  Re  in  direct  discourse,  as  the 

imperative  shows,  this  is  clearly  an  error  for  **to  him,**  as  found  in  the  speech  to 
Osiris,  in  the  next  line. 

^Emendation  suggested  by  Erman. 


§283] 


KUBBAN  STELA 


dian,  thou  comest  as  living  Re  to  the  people;  the  Southland  and  North¬ 
land  [are  beneath]  thy  feet,  beseeching  myriads  of  royal  jubilees  for 

Usermare-Setepnere,  the*  duration  of  the  All-Lord,  when  [he]  rises 
______  > » 


KUBBAN  STELA“ 

282.  This  document  records  the  attempt  of  Ramses  II 
to  supply  with  water  the  desert  road  leading  from  the  Nile 
at  KubbS.n  to  the  gold-bearing  regions  on  the  east  in  the 
great  Wadi  'Aliki.’’  It  is  similar  to  the  records  of  like  at¬ 
tempts  by  Seti  I  at  Redesiyeh  (§§162-98),  with  which  it 
should  be  compared.  Seti  I,  indeed,  had  made  a  futile 
attempt  to  find  water  on  this  same  road,  having  dug  a  well 
there  200  feet  deep,  as  our  document  informs  us  (1.  21). 
In  spite  of  this  fact,  Ramses  makes  another  attempt,  and 
sends  out  the  viceroy  of  Kush  for  the  purpose.  He  presently 
reports  success  at  a  depth  of  only  20  feet. 

283.  A  statement  in  the  ceremonious  address  of  the  court 
(11.  13-19)  has  always  been  regarded  as  of  great  historical 
importance.  It  affirms  that  Ramses  had  held  important 
official  positions  in  the  land  since  he  was  a  lad  in  the  tenth 
year  of  his  age  (1.  17).  But  this  statement,  we  should  re¬ 
member,  is  found  in  the  midst  of  a  fulsome  eulogy  abounding 


*This  stela  was  discovered  in  the  ruins  on  the  south  of  the  village  of  Kubb&n, 
by  Prisse  d*Avennes.  It  is  now  in  the  chateau  of  the  Count  St.  Ferriol  at  Uriage, 
near  Grenoble.  It  was  published  by  Prisse  {Monuments  egyptiens^  XXI),  but  his 
text  is  excessively  incorrect.  The  first  twenty-five  lines  were  then  much  more 
accurately  published  by  Chabas  {Les  inscriptions  des  mines  or) j  and  again  without 
change  by  Rheinisch  (ChrestomathiCf  Taf.  lo).  The  last  fourteen  lines  (11.  25-38) 
have  lost  the  first  two-thirds  of  their  length.  These  have  been  republished  with 
collation  of  the  Louvre  stiuceze  by  Virey  {Recueil,  XIV,  97,  98);  his  restorations 
are  mostly  gratuitous,  and  often  grammatically  impossible.  An  exhaustive  copy 
of  the  original  is  very  much  needed. 

'^See  Linant,  Carte  de  VEthaye  ou  pays  habits  par  des  Arabes  Bisharisy  com- 
prenant  les  contr^es  des  mines  d^or  connues  des  anciens  sous  le  nom  d’Olaki, 
public  par  le  d6p6t  de  la  guerre,  1854. 


ii8  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [§284 


in  the  most  absurd  exaggerations.  It  is  probable,  in  view 
of  these  statements,  however,  that  Ramses  early  developed 
administrative  ability,  which  he  was  given  opportunity  to 
exercise  while  still  very  young.  This  was  doubtless  a  privi¬ 
lege  granted  to  many  princes  of  the  royal  house;  it  does  not 
indicate  that  Ramses  came  to  the  throne  while  a  child,  nor 
do  the  courtiers  here  make  any  such  claim,®  though  their 
words  have  been  so  misunderstood.^ 

284.  A  relief  above  the  inscription  shows  Ramses  II 
offering  incense  to  ^^HoruSj  lord  0}  Bek  (B  ^  and  ^‘wine 
to  Min  residing  in  the  mountain, resulting  in  the  usual 
promises  from  the  god.  Then  follows  below  the  long 
inscription: 


Introduction 

285.  *Year  3,  first  month  of  the  second  season,  day  4,  under  the 
majesty  of  Horus:  Mighty  Bull,  Beloved  of  Truth;  Favorite  of  the 
Two  Goddesses:  Defender  of  Egypt,  Binder  of  the  Barbarians;  Golden 
Horus:  Rich  in  years.  Great  in  Victory;  King  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt:  Usermare-Setepnere;  Son  of  Re:  Meriamon-Ramses  (II), 
given  life,  forever  and  ever,  beloved  of  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  and 
presider  over  Elamak;  “shining  upon  the  Horus-throne  of  the  living, 
like  his  father.  Re,  every  day;  Good  God,  lord  of  the  Southland, 
Horus  of  Edfu,  of  brilliant  plumage,  beautiful  hawk  of  electrum.  He 
protects  Egypt  with  his  wing,  making  shade  for  the  people,  as  a  wall  of 
might  and  victory.  When  he  went  forth  3from  the  body,®  he  was 
(already)  terrible  for  capture,  while  his  might  was  extending  his  bound¬ 
aries;  color  was  given  to  his  limbs  like  the  might  of  Montu.  (He  is) 
the  double  lord,^  on  the  day  of  whose  birth  there  was  exultation  in 
heaven;  the  gods  said:  ‘‘Our  seed  is  in  him  ''  ^The  goddesses  said: 
“He  hath  come  forth  from  us  to  exercise  the  kingship  of  Re.’'  Amon 


•See  »n/ra,  Figs.  3  and  4,  and  5§  123  ff- 

'>E.  g.,  by  Wiedemann,  Aegyptische  Ceschichte,  419;  and  by  Bnigsch,  Zeit- 
schrift  jUr  agyptische  Sprache,  1890,  34  f. 

cAt  birth.  ^Written  with  the  figures  of  Horus  and  Set. 


§286] 


KUBBAN  STELA 


iig 


said:  ‘‘I  am  Irsu,*  I  have  put  justice  into  its  place.’’  The  earth  is 
established,  heaven  is  satisfied,  the  divine  ennead  is  content  with  his 
qualities,  the  Bull,  mighty  against  Kush  the  wretched,  smiting  sthe 
rebels'^  as  far  as  the  land  of  the  Negro.  His  hoofs  trample  the  Trog¬ 
lodytes,  his  horn  gores  into  them;  his  fame  is  mighty  in  Khenthen- 
nofer;  as  for  his  terror,  it  has  reached  Karoy  ry).  His  name  cir¬ 
culates  among  %11  lands,  because  of  the  victories  which  his  two  hands 
have  wrought.  Gold  comes  forth  from  the  mountain  at  his  name,^ 
like  (that  of)  his  father,  Horus,  lord  of  Bek  great  in  love  in 

the  southern  countries,  like  Horus  in  the  land  of  Miam  (iify  ^  m),® 

lord  of  Bohen  (Bwhn);  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  User- 
mare-Setepnere ;  ’Son  of  Re,  of  his  body.  Lord  of  Diadems:  Meri- 
amon-Ramses  (II),  given  life  forever  and  ever,  like  his  father.  Re, 
every  day. 

Investigation  of  the  Land  of  Akita 
286.  Now,  when  his  majesty  was  in  Memphis,  performing  the 
pleasing  ceremonies  of  his  fathers,  all  the  gods  of  South  and  North, 
according  as  they  gave  to  him  might  and  victory,  and  long  life  of  myriads 
®of  years;  on  one  of  these  days  it  came  to  pass  that,  lo,  his  majesty 
was  sitting  upon  a  great  throne  of  electrum,  diademed  with  the  double- 
feathered  crown,  recounting  the  countries,  from  which  gold  is  brought, 
and  devising  plans  for  digging  dwells  on  a  road  lacking  in  water,  after 
hearing  said  that  there  was  much  gold  in  the  country  of  Akita  (^  -^  ^  - 
y-t  ^),  whereas  the  road  thereof  was  very  lacking  in  water.  If  a  few  of 
*°the  caravaneers  of  the  gold- washing  went  thither,  it  was  only  half  of 
them  that  arrived  there,  (for)  they  died  of  thirst  on  the  road,  together 
with  the  asses  which  they  drove  before  them.  There  was  not  found  for 
them  their  necessary  supply  of  “drink,  in  ascending  and  descending, 
from  the  water  of  the  skins.^  Hence  no  gold  was  brought  from  this 
country  for  lack  of  water. 


^**Irsu**  {Yr-sw)y  lit.,  “/tc  who  made  himy*  a  not  uncommon  designation  of 
the  god  as  father  of  the  king  (II,  985,  note). 

'^Cf.  Guieysse  {Recueily  X,  64  ff.),  whose  rendering  is  grammatically  impossible. 
cThe  same  remarkable  idea  referring  to  Amenhotep  IV  (II,  946). 

^District  in  which  the  ancient  town  at  KubbAn  was  situated.  See  Brugsch, 
Zeitschrijt  fur  agyptische  Sprachcy  1882,  31  f. 

«Af  9  as  often  for  »  m.  Miam  is  the  ancient  name  of  Derr;  see  Tomb  of 
Penno  (IV,  4745.),  and  Brugsch,  Zeitschrijt  fur  dgyptische  Sprachey  1882,  31. 
<Going  from  the  Nile  into  the  desert  is  regularly  **  ascendingy**  and  the  return  is 


120 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§287 


Court  is  Summoned 

287,  Said  his  majesty  to  the  wearer  of  the  royal  seal,  who  was  at 
his  side:  “Call  the  princes  of  the  court,  ”his  majesty  would  counsel 
with  them  concerning  this  country,  (how)  I  may  take  the  necessary 
measures.’^  They  were  immediately  brought  before  the  Good  God, 
their  hands  uplifted  to  his  ka,  acclaiming  and  smelling  the  earth  before 
his  beautiful  face.  One  (=the  king)  told  them  the  character  of  this 
country,  counseling  *3with  them  concerning  the  plan  of  opening  a  well 
upon  the  road  thereof. 

Address  of  the  Court 

288.  They  said  before  his  majesty:  “Thou  art  like  Re  in  all  that 
thou  doest;  that  which  thy  heart  wishes  comes  to  pass.  If  thou  desirest 
a  matter  in  the  night,  in  the  morning  it  quickly  comes  to  pass.  We 
have  been  *  ^beholding  a  multitude  of  thy  marvels,  since  thy  appearance 
as  king  of  the  Two  Lands;  we  have  not  heard,  neither  have  our  eyes 
seen,^  (yet)  do  they  come  to  pass  as  they  are.®  As  for  everything  that 
comes  out  of  thy  mouth,  it  is  like  the  words  of  Harakhte.  Thy  tongue  is 
a  pair  of  balances,  more  accurate  are  thy  two  lips  ^^than  the  correct 
weight  of  Thoth.  What  is  that  which  thou  knowest  not?  Who  is 
the  finisher  of  it  like  thee  ?  Where^  is  the  place,  which  thou  hast  not 
seen  ?  There  is  no  country  which  thou  hast  not  trodden.  All  matters 
pass  through  thy  ears,  *^since  thou  hast  exercised  authority  over  this 
land.  Thou  didst  make  plans  while  thou  wast  (still)  in  the  egg,  in  thy 
office  of  child  of  a  prince.^  The  affairs  of  the  Two  Lands  were  told 
thee,  while  thou  wert  a  child  wearing  the  curl;^  no  monument  was 
executed,  which  was  not  under  thy  authority;  ^^there  was  no  commission 
without  thy  knowledge.  Thou  wast  chief®  of  the  army  while  thou  wast 


descending;*'  the  workmen  were  unable  to  carry  in  the  skins  sufficient  water  for 
the  round  trip. 

*See  the  same  idea  in  1.  22.  This  method  of  flattery  by  courtiers  is  not  unique. 
The  same  assumption  of  a  mysterious  origin  of  completed  works  of  the  king  is  found 
regarding  Hatshepsut*s  obelisks,  and  the  statue  of  Amenhotep  III  erected  by 
Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapi. 

(Bondi,  Lehnworter,  31). 

c  •  ty.  dXhe  well-known  sidelock  of  youth. 

-hry,  lit.,  superior  mouth;"  this  is  the  phrase  used  in  1.  13  where  the 
king  asks  for  advice  “lit.,  mouth"  where  mouth"  is,  of  course,  a  metonymy 
for  “counsel.’’  The  exact  military  rank  indicated  is  not  certain.  It  should  be 


§289]  kubbAn  stela 


a  boy  of  the  tenth  year.  Every  work  that  was  carried  out,  it  was  thy 
hand  which  made  the  foundation  thereof.  If  thou  sayest  to  the  water: 
‘Come  upon  the  mountain,’  the  flood  comes  forth  *®quickly  after  thy 
word,  for  thou  art  Re  in  limbs,  and  Khepri  with  his  true  form.  Thou 
art  the  living  image  on  earth  of  thy  father,  Atum  of  Heliopolis.  Taste 
is  in  thy  mouth,  intelligence*  in  thy  heart;  the  seat  of  thy  tongue  is  the 
shrine  of  truth,  the  god  sits  upon  thy  two  lips.'^  Thy  words  come  to 
pass  every  day,  *®thy  heart  is  made  into  the  likeness  of  (that  of)  Ptah, 
the  creator  of  handicrafts. Thou  art  forever,  it  shall  be  done  by  thy 
plans,  all  that  thou  sayest  is  heard,  O  Sovereign,  our  lord.” 

Statement  of  the  Viceroy  of  Kush 

289.  “As  for  the  country  of  Akita,  this  is  said  concerning  it,”  said  the 
king’s-son  of  Kush  the  wretched,  *®concerning  it  before  his  majesty, 
“  that  it  has  been  in  this  manner  lacking  in  water,  since  the  time  of  the 
god.  They  die  therein  of  thirst,  and  every  earlier  king  desired  to  open 
a  well  therein,  but  did  not  succeed.^^  **King  Menmare  (Seti  I)  did  the 
like,  and  caused  to  be  dug  a  well  of  120  cubits®  depth  in  his  time.  It 
is  (however),  forsaken  on  the  road,  (for)  no  water  came  out  of  it. 
(But)  if  thou  thyself  say  to  thy  father  Hapi,^  **the  father  of  the  gods: 
‘Let  water  be  brought  upon  the  mountain,’  he  will  do  according  to  all 
that  thou  hast  said,  like  all  thy  designs,  which  come  to  pass  before  us, 
(although)  they  have  not  been  heard  in  conversation;  because  thy 
fathers,  all  the  gods  love  thee,  more  than  any  king,  *3who  has  been 
since  Re.” 


observed  that  the  courtiers  here  (11.  16,  17)  make  no  claim  that  Ramses  became 
king  at  ten  years  of  age,  as  is  so  often  stated.  They  affirm  no  more  than  the 
assumption  of  great  trusts  by  Ramses  at  a  very  early  age;  there  is  no  hint  of 
coregency. 

®This  is  the  same  idea  as  in  the  Memphite  system;  ideas  come  from  the  heart 
(  *»mind).  See  my  Philosophy  of  a  Memphite  Priest”  {Zeitschrijt  jilr  dgyptische 
Sprache,  39,  39  ff.*). 

'^This  notion  is  also  found  in  the  Memphite  system  {ibid.,  pp.  46-48). 

cin  the  address  of  Ptah  to  Ramses  II  (Abu  Simbel  Stela,  Lepsius,  DenkmiUefy 
III,  194,  11.  14,  15),  Ptah  says:  “/  cause  the  mountains  to  shape  jor  thee  greats 
mighty^  lojty  monuments;  I  cause  the  highlands  to  fashion  for  thee  \all\  splendid 
costly  stones.** 

^Lit.,  ** Their  prosperity  (=» success)  did  not  happen** 

•Two  hundred  feet.  ^  The  Nile-god. 


122 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§290 


Ramses  Determines  to  Dig  a  Well  in  Akita 

290.  Said  his  majesty  to  these  princes:  ‘‘How  true  is  all  that  which 

ye  have  said  that  no  water  has  been  dug  in  this  country  since  the 
time  of  the  god,  as  ye  say.  (But)  I  will  open  a  well  there,  *'furnishing^ 
water  every  day  as  in  ^^fthe  valley  ofi*  the  Nijle,  at  command  of  my 
father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  and  all  the  gods  of  Nubia,  according 
as  their  heart  is  satisfied  with  the  things  desired.  I  will  cause  it  to  be 
said  in  the  land - - y 

291.  [Then  these  princes]  praised  their  lord,  smelling  the  ground, 
throwing  themselves  upon  their  bellies  in  the  presence,  exulting  to  the 
height  of  heaven. 

Said  his  majesty  to  the  chief  king’s-scribe  — :  -  of 

the  road  to  Akita.  Let  a  month  become  a  day,®  when  [thou]  sendest 

27 - fThen  the  chief  king’s-scribe  communicated  to  the 

king’s-son  of  Kush^^  according  as  it  had  been  commissioned  him. 

Lo,  he  mustered  the  people  for  ®®fdigging  the  well^ - .  fBut 

they  said:  “ What^]  then  is  it  which  the  king^s-son  shall  do  ?  Shall  the 
water  which  is  in  the  nether  world  hearken  to  him?'^®  Then  they 
dug  the  well  on^]  the  road  to  the  country  of  Akita.  Never  was  done  the 

like  since  the  kings  who  were  aforetime  30 - he  puts  fish  in  the 

pools  of  the  regions  of  of  the  Delta  marshes,  pleasing  his  heart  in 
creating  3> - : - like  a  rudder  in  the  wind.® 

A  Letter  Announcing  Success  from  the  Viceroy  of  Kush 

292.  One  came,  bearing  a  letter  from  the  king^s-son  of  Kush  the 

wretched,  saying:  - fThei  well  Hs  finished^];  that  which 

thy  majesty  spake  with  his  own  mouth  has  come  to  pass;  the  water  has 
come  forth  from  it^  at  12  cubits,  being  4  cubits  therein  in  depth. 
33 - it  outside,  as  a  god  does,  in  satisfying  the  heart  with  that 


*That  is,  let  a  month  of  preparation  become  as  short  as  a  day. 

'^This  scribe  must  have  communicated  the  commission  to  the  viceroy  of  Kush, 
for  it  is  the  latter  who  executes  the  task  in  Akita,  as  is  shown  by  11.  28  and  31. 

®Cf.  1.  35. 

<lThe  subject  is  uncertain;  possibly  the  Nile-god  is  meant,  being  here  doubtless 
the  one  who  brings  the  water  to  Ramses’  well. 

«Virey’s  text  has  **  shore**  instead  of  **wind** 

^Feminine  pronoun,  referring  to  ^*well**  (fern.),  which  must  have  been  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  preceding  lacuna. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


123 


S*94] 


which  thou  desirest.  Never  was  done  *^[the  like  since  the  time  of  the 

god] - Akita  rejoices  with  great  joy,  those  who  are  far  away 

- the  ruler.  The  water  which  is  in  the  nether  world  hearkens 

to  him,  when  he  digs  water  upon  the  mountain  2® - 

Conclusion 

293.  - to  him  from  the  king’s-son,  announcing  that  which 

he  had  done.  They  were  glad  because  of“  [it]  —  - excellent 

in  plans,  good  in  t - - .  38[His  majesty  ordered  to  call  the 

name  of]  this  [we]ll:  “The-Well-of-Meriamon-Ramses-Mighty-fin- 
Victoryt].” 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 

294.  Ramses  II,  with  his  two  predecessors,  inherited  a 
very  dangerous  situation  in  S3Tia.  Seti  I  had  not  succeeded 
in  relieving  that  situation,  and  upon  Ramses  II  fell  the 
critical  task  of  confronting  and  checking  the  southward 
advance  of  the  Hittites,  in  their  process  of  absorbing  the 
Egyptian  conquests  in  Syria.  They  were  the  most  powerful 
people  which  Egypt  had  ever  met,  and  the  conflict  lasted 
nearly  twenty  years,  during  which  we  may  discern  three 
periods.  In  the  first  of  these  we  find  Ramses,  after  having 
pushed  his  Phoenician  boundary  northward  to  Beyrut, 
marching  down  the  Orontes  against  the  Hittites  at  Kadesh. 
The  remarkable  battle  which  followed  was  without  bene¬ 
ficial  result.  The  second  period  finds  Ramses  battling  for 
the  recovery  of  Palestine,  where  there  had  arisen  a  general 
revolt,  undoubtedly  incited  by  the  Hittites.  This  revolt 
suppressed,  the  third  period  finds  him  again  in  the  Hittite 
country,  conquering  Naharin  as  far  north  as  Tunip,  where 
his  progress  was  such  that  the  Hittites  were  willing  to  resign 
all  projects  of  further  conquest  in  Syria  and  negotiate  a 


»Or:  **They  (the  reports)  were  agreeable  to  [the  heart  of  the  kingy* 


124 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[5  29s 


permanent  compact  in  a  treaty,  in  arranging  which  no  men¬ 
tion  of  the  boundary*  adopted  is  made. 

295.  The  materials  for  the  three  periods  are  very  scanty, 
except  for  the  battle  of  Kadesh  and  the  treaty.  These 
materials  are  as  follows:*’ 

I.  Beginning  of  the  Hittite  War. 

1.  First  campaign:  three  illegible  stelae  on  the  Nahr-el- 
Kelb  near  Beyrut  (§  297). 

2.  Second  campaign,  battle  of  Kadesh: 

a)  Poem  on  the  battle  of  Kadesh  (§§305-15). 

b)  Official  record  of  the  battle  of  Kadesh  (§§316-27). 

c)  Reliefs  of  the  battle  of  Kadesh  (§§328-51). 

II.  Palestinian  revolt. 

1.  Reconquest  of  southern  Palestine:  a  relief  at  Kamak 
showing  the  storming  of  Askalon  (§§353-55). 

2.  Reconquest  of  northern  Palestine:  a  short  list  of  towns 
taken  in  the  eighth  year  (§  356) ;  a  relief  at  the  Ramesseum, 
of  the  storming  of  Deper  (§§  356-62) ;  a  relief  in  the  Hauran 

(§358). 

III.  Close  of  the  Hittite  War. 

1.  Conquest  of  Naharin:  a  small  fragment  at  the  Rames¬ 
seum,  from  an  inscription  describing  the  capture  of  Tunip 
(§§363-65);  two  short  lists  of  conquered  countries  (§366). 

2.  Treaty  with  the  Hittites:  entire  text  of  the  document 

(§§367-91)- 

I.  BEGINNING  OF  THE  HITTITE  WAR 

296.  Like  his  great  predecessors,  Seti  I  and  Thutmose  III, 
Ramses  II  began  his  operations  for  the  conquest  of  northern 
Syria  by  first  securing  the  coast  and  then  moving  against 


®This  boundary  will  not  have  been  far  south  of  Hamath,  which  marks  the 
southern  limit  of  Hittite  remains. 

^Besides  these  materials,  see  also  Nubian  War,  etc.  (§§  448-91). 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


12$ 


$298] 


the  interior,  where  for  the  first  time  he  comes  into  contact 
with  the  Hittites. 

I.  First  Campaign 

297*  Ramses  II’s  first  campaign  was  directed  along  the 
Phoenician  coast,  and  extended  as  far  as  Beyrut,  near  which 
he  erected  a  stela  on  the  Nahr  el-Kelb  (Dog  River)  in  his 
fourth  year.  Another  stela,  dated  “year  2”“  is  called  un¬ 
certain  by  Lepsius,**  and  is  probably  to  be  read  “year  jo;" 
for  the  first'  is  clearly  4;  and  there  was  but  one  campaign 
before  that  of  the  “year  5,”**  against  Kadesh.  A  third  stela 
is  without  date.  These  stelae*  are  so  weathered  that  the 
records  of  the  campaigns  which  they  doubtless  contained, 
are  most  totally  illegible.'  The  location  of  the  stela  near 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  conquests  of  Ramses’  father, 
Seti  I,  is  significant.  They  of  course  mark  the  advance 
boundary  of  Ramses  II’s  northern  conquests. 

II.  Second  Campaign:  The  Battle  of  Kadesh^ 

298.  This  battle,  in  which  Ramses  meets  the  Hittites  for 
the  first  time,  forms  the  culmination  of  Ramses  II’s  second 


•Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  197,  c.  ^Briefe^  403. 

cLepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  197,  b. 

Which  is  called  the  second  campaign,  Record,  1.  i. 

«Published  by  Bonomi,  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature^  ist 
ser.,  II,  pi.;  Lepsius,  Denkmdler ,  III,  197;  see  also  Boscawen,  Transactions  of 
the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology,  VII,  331  £f. 

^  These  stelae  are  cut  in  the  limestone  of  the  hillside,  and  have  so  weathered 
that  visitors  unaccustomed  to  reading  such  inscriptions  have  declared  they  con¬ 
tained  none.  One  (Boscawen's  No.  i,  farthest  north)  was  smoothed  off  by  the 
French,  and  a  record  of  the  French  occupation  (1860-61)  inscribed  upon  it.  The 
Egyptian  inscription  was,  of  course,  totally  obliterated  (Boscawen,  Transactions 
of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archeology,  VII,  336). 

sThree  sources:  (i)  the  so-called  *‘Poem  of  Pentaur”  (referred  to  above  as 
“Poem”);  (2)  the  Official  Record  (called  “Record”);  (3)  the  Reliefs.  The 
bibliography,  etc.,  will  be  found  with  the  introduction  to  each  document.  In 
general,  see  my  BaJttle  of  Kadesh,  “Decennial  Publications  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,”  V,  81-127. 


196 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  H 


[5*98 


0 _  j  _ _ 13  to _ uAm. 


Fig.  7.— Map  of  the  Orontes  Valley  in  the  Vicinity  of  Kadesh,  1:500,000 
(after  Blanckenhorn) 

Syrian  campaign,  and  furnishes  nearly  all  we  know  of  the 
beginning  of  his  S)T:ian  war.  It  is  of  especial  interest,  being 
the  first  battle  in  history  of  which  we  may  follow  the  tactics 
and  the  disposition  of  both  armies.  “  About  the  end  of 


»Rev.  H.  G.  Tomkins^  study  of  this  battle  {Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archeology,  VII,  390  ff.)  was  unfortunately  made  without  all  the  data  to  be  gained 
from  the  texts,  but  shows  good  use  of  what  he  had.  Failure  to  observe  the  sequence 
of  events  made  any  clear  outline  of  movements  impossible.  Maspero’s  account 
of  it  in  his  one  volume,  Histoire,  is  excellent,  but  this  account  was  altered  in  his 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


127 


5*98] 


April,  Ramses  marched  northward  from  the  fortress  of 
Tharu  on  the  Eg3T)tian  frontier,  with  an  army  of  probably 
about  20,000  men,  in  four  divisions:  the  division  of  Amon, 
which  formed  the  advance,  under  the  immediate  command 
of  the  Pharaoh;  and  the  divisions*  of  Re,  of  Ptah,  and  of 
Sutekh,  which  followed  that  of  Amon  in  the  order  given. 
Marching  through  Palestine,’’  and  along  the  Phoenician 
coast  road,  Ramses  passed  into  Amor,  where  he  formed  his 
van  of  picked  men,  on  the  “shore  in  the  land  of  Amor'’ 
(Poem,  1.  18).  Thereupon  he  left  the  coast,  perhaps  march¬ 
ing  up  the  valley  of  the  LitS,ny,  and  reached  the  last  elevation 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Orontes,  where  the  high  valley  (the 
Buk4'^a)  drops  to  the  level  of  the  plain  around  Kadesh, 
about  a  day’s  march  south  of  it.  Here  he  camped  (Poem, 
11.  II,  12;  Record,  1.  2),  without  finding  trace  of  the  enemy. 
He  therefore  pushed  on  the  next  day,  and  as  he  reached  the 
ford  just  south  of  Shabtuna,  later  Ribleh,"*  a  small  town, 
some  seven  and  a  half  miles  south  of  Kadesh,  he  was  in¬ 
formed  by  two  Shasu-Bedwin,  sent  out  by  the  Hittite  king 
for  this  purpose,  that  the  Asiatics  had  retreated  far  north¬ 
ward  to  the  district  of  Aleppo,  beyond  Tunip  (Record,  11. 
2-6).  With  the  division  of  Amon,  therefore,  Ramses 
crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  Orontes  at  Shabtuna  (Poem, 
1.  12),  leaving  the  other  three  divisions  on  the  east  side,  dis- 


larger  history.  Meyer  is  the  only  later  historian  who  has  shown  a  correct  under¬ 
standing  of  the  general  plan  of  the  battle.  On  the  literature  of  the  subject,  see  my 
Battle  oj  Kadesh f  4,  5. 

^‘This  word,  which  I  render  ** division,^*  is  in  Egyptian  ^^army*’  (tnS^)y  but  it 
was  probably  about  the  size  of  a  modern  army  division  (see  p.  153,  note). 

f>The  route  is  uncertain  in  Palestine  (see  MUller,  Asien  und  Europay  220), 
but  must  have  been  along  the  coast  when  he  reached  southern  Phoenicia.  It  is 
barely  possible,  therefore,  that  Ramses  embarked  his  army,  after  leaving  Tharu, 
and  landed  at  some  Phoenician  port. 

^Battle  of  Kadeshy  19-21;  see  infra.  Figs.  7  and  8. 

^Battle  of  Kadeshy  21,  22. 


Fig.  8. — March  to  Kadesh.  First  Positions 


5*99] 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


129 


tributed  along  the  road  to  the  south.  The  division  of  Re, 
however,  soon  crossed  at  the  same  ford,  with  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  between  its  van  and  the  rear  of  the  division  of 
Amon“  (Fig.  9).  With  these  two  divisions  following  him 
in  a  long  line,  Ramses  continued  rapidly  northward,  leaving 
the  other  two  (Ptah  and  Sutekh)  marching  slowly  south  of 
Shabtuna,  till  there  was  a  wide  gap  between  the  two  halves 
of  his  army. 

299.  Meanwhile  the  Asiatics  (Poem,  1.  17),  with  an  army 
of  probably  20,000  men,  the  combined  forces  of  the  north 
Syrian  princes,  under  the  Hittite  king,  together  with  a  large 
proportion  of  mercenaries  from  states  in  Asia  Minor,  adja¬ 
cent  or  subject  to  the  Hittites’’ — all  these  were  concealed  on 
the  northwest  of  Kadesh,  hidden  from  the  Egyptians  by 
the  city.  The  Hittite  king  now  uses  the  city  to  mask  his 
movements,  and  as  Ramses  pushes  northward  on  the  west 
side  of  Kadesh,  the  Hittite  commander  shifts  his  position 
rapidly  eastward  and  southward,®  all  the  time  keeping  the 


“From  this  point  on  consult  the  battle  plans  (Figs.  9  to  12).  They  are  taken 
from  my  Battle  of  Kadesh,  The  four  Egyptian  divisions  are  marked  by  their 
names:  Amon,  Re,  Ptah,  and  Sutekh. 

^Poem,  11.  I,  2,  13-16,  and  24;  Record,  11.  6,  7.  The  language  of  the  inscrip¬ 
tions  puts  the  Syrian  contingents  in  the  same  category  with  those  of  Asia  Minor, 
but  it  is  clear  that  the  latter  are  only  mercenaries,  called  ** warriors**  {tw-hy-r^)^' 
i.  e.,  professional  soldiers,  who  are  in  the  service  of  the  Hittite  king  for  hire  (Poem, 
1.  16),  under  their  own  native  commanders,  whom  the  Poem  represents  as  their 
princes.  The  Syrians,  on  the  other  hand,  are  real  allies  of  the  Hittites,  and  their 
kings  are  really  present. 

^No  direct  statement  of  this  movement  is  made  in  the  sources,  but  after  slating 
that  the  Hittites  are  the  northwest  of  Kadesh**  (Poem,  11.  16,  17),  wliile  Ramses 
is  still  south  of  Kadesh,  they  further  state  that  the  Asiatics  emerged  for  the  attack 
from  the  southern  side  of  Kadesh**  (Poem,  1.  20;  Record,  1.  20),  when  Ramses 
is  in  camp  northwest  of  Kadesh.  The  Hittites  could  not  have  shifted  from  the 
northwest  of  Kadesh  to  the  south  of  it,  along  the  west  side,  for  here  Ramses  was 
marching  northward.  They  must  have  passed  eastward  and  southward  on  the 
east  side  of  the  city  (Fig.  10),  keeping  themselves  constantly  behind  Kadesh** 
from  Ramses^  point  of  view.  They  could,  of  course,  have  passed  through  Kadesh 
if  the  gates  were  in  such  positions  as  to  permit.  But  as  they  crossed  the  Orontes 


Fig.  9. — Second  PosidoDs  Fig.  10. — ^Third  Positions  Fig.  ii. — ^Fourth  Positions  Fig.  12. — Fifth  Positions 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


S300] 


131 


city  between  him  and  the  advance  of  the  Egyptians.  To  do 
this,  he  was  obliged  to  transfer  his  army  across  the  Orontes. 
Ramses,  now  quite  unsuspicious,  advances  alone  with  only 
his  household  troops,  and  deliberately  goes  into  camp 
northwest  of  the  city  (Poem,  11.  12  and  21;  Record,  11.  7,  8; 
Reliefs,  §336,  11.  3,  4;  Fig.  10).  Thus  the  Asiatics,  with 
a  strong  fortress  on  their  right  for  refuge  in  case  of  defeat, 
by  their  remarkably  skilful  maneuvering,  have  gained  a 
position  on  Ramses’  right  flank,  which,  properly  utilized, 
means  his  destruction. 

300.  As  the  division  of  Amon  comes  up  and  is  settling  in 
camp  around  the  tent  of  Ramses  (Reliefs,  §  331),  an  Egyp¬ 
tian  scout  brings  in  two  of  the  enemy’s  scouts,  who  are 
beaten  (Reliefs,  §  330)  into  confessing  the  proximity  of  the 
foe  (Record,  §321).  Thoroughly  alarmed,  Ramses  com¬ 
mands  the  vizier  to  order  up  the  troops  from  the  south  of 
Shabtuna  (§  324),  and  the  vizier,  besides  sending  a  horse¬ 
man  to  hasten  them,  probably  goes  also  himself  in  a  chariot 
(Record,  §  324 ;  Reliefs,  §§  333  f.).  Meanwhile  the  threaten¬ 
ing  catastrophe  becomes  a  fact :  remaining  with  his  infantry, 
the  king  of  the  Hittites  sends  his  chariotry  (Poem,  11.  18,  19) 
to  the  attack;  they  “came  forth  from  the  southern  side  of 
Kadesh,  and  they  cut  through  the  division  of  Re  in  its  middle, 
while  they  were  marching,  without  knowing,  and  without 
being  drawn  up  for  battle^'  (Poem,  §311).  Totally  unpre¬ 
pared,  caught  thus  in  marching  order,  the  Eg3q)tians  fled 
northward*  toward  Ramses’  camp  (Record,  1.  21),  while  a 
messenger  was  sent  to  acquaint  him  with  the  disaster.  But 


to  make  the  attack  (Record,  1.  20),  they  must  have  come  from  the  east  side  of  the 
river;  and  while  on  the  northwest  of  Kadesh,  they  were  certainly  on  the  west  side; 
hence  the  two  crossings  are  certain. 

•This  is  evidently  the  northern  half  of  the  division  of  Re,  which  thus  retreats; 
the  southern  half  apparently  fell  back  southward  on  the  marching  division  of  Ptah. 


132 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY;  RAMSES  II 


[5301 


the  Hittite  chariotry,  which  made  the  attack,  pressed  the  re¬ 
treating  Egyptians  northward  so  rapidly  that,  while  Ramses 
was  sitting  in  his  tent  chiding  his  officers  for  their  ignorance 
of  the  enemy’s  whereabouts,  some  members  of  the  royal 
family  were  driven  in  headlong  flight  over  the  western  barri¬ 
cade  into  the  camp  by  the  most  advanced  of  the  Hittite 
chariots  (Record,  11.  19,  20;  Reliefs,  §  332,  a,  b).  These 
first  hostile  intruders  were  dragged  from  their  chariots  by 
the  Egyptian  foot  in  the  camp  and  slain.®  The  fleeing 
troops  of  the  division  of  Re**  now  arrive  and  sweep  the 
camping  division  of  Amon  into  panic  and  flight,  while  the 
advancing  Hittite  chariotry  rapidly  enfold  Ramses  between 
their  extended  wings  (Poem,  1.  23;  Record,  1.  22;  Reliefs, 
§336,  a,  11.  7.  8,  and  scene),®  being  2,500  in  number,  and 
representing  a  force  of  7,500  men.  Ramses,  having  with 
him  only  his  bodyguard,'*  now  saw  the  extended  wings  of 
the  enemy  close  completely  around  him  on  four  sides,  seem¬ 
ing  like  four  bodies  of  chariotry®  (Poem,  1.  23;  Record,  11. 
21,  22;  Reliefs,  §  336,  a,  1.  8).  For  the  moment,  he  is  thus 
isolated,  even  from  the  troops  which  had  accompanied  him 
to  the  north  of  Kadesh. 

301.  On  the  west  side,  where  the  royal  fugitives  have  just 


^Battle  of  Kadesh,  PI.  I. 

'’These  are  the  northern  portion  of  the  division  of  Re.  As  the  Hittites  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  cutting  directly  through  this  division,  the  southern  portion  of  it  should 
be  represented  on  the  plan  (Fig.  12)  somewhere  south  of  Kadesh  between  Kadesh 
and  the  division  of  Ptah;  but  as  their  position  succeeding  the  attack  is  quite  uncer¬ 
tain,  I  have  not  attempted  to  indicate  it. 

cThis  enfolding  or  flanking  movement  is  clearly  evident  in  the  relief,  where 
the  Hittite  chariots,  with  three  men  in  each,  may  be  easily  distinguished  from  the 
Egyptian,  which  carry  only  two.  See  also  Fig.  12. 

^It  is  this  circumstance  which  has  given  rise  to  the  proud  boast,  so  often  repeated 
in  the  Poem  and  in  the  Reliefs,  that  he  was  utterly  alone,  and  won  the  battle  single- 
handed. 

«They  can  be  seen  thus  in  the  relief  scene  (Battle  of  Kadesh,  PI.  V) ;  see  also 
Fig.  12. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


133 


§30*1 


been  driven  in,  the  enemy  is  already  pressing  into  the  camp. 
On  the  east  the  enfolding  wing  of  the  enemy  is  evidently 
weakest.  Ramses  did  not  hesitate  an  instant,  but  immedi¬ 
ately  rallied  his  household  troops  and  charged  into  the 
invaders  of  his  camp,  in  the  endeavor  to  cut  his  way  out,  to 
rejoin  his  southern  divisions.  This  unexpected  onset  gained 
him  a  moment’s  respite,  during  which  he  perceived  how  the 
enemy  was  massed  against  him  on  the  south,  and  he  there¬ 
fore  turned  against  the  enemy’s  thin  line  on  their  extreme 
right,  before  they  should  have  time  to  strengthen  it  after 
their  rapid  advance  northward.  He  charged  eastward  into 
the  scanty  opposing  line  of  chariots  so  impetuously  that  he 
drove  them  into  the  Orontes  north  of  the  city.*  In  so  doing 
he  forsook  his  camp,  which  immediately  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy.  It  is  unquestionably  the  rich  plunder  in 
Ramses’  camp  which  diverts  the  Hittites  for  the  moment 
and  saves  Ramses  from  being  pushed  into  the  river  in  his 
turn. 

302.  A  body  of  troops,  which  it  is  difficult  to  connect  with 
any  of  Ramses’  four  divisions,  now  unexpectedly  arrives 
and  begins  his  rescue.  They  are  called  recruits  (n^ryn), 
and  are  said  to  arrive  from  Amor.**  They  enter  the  camp 
and  slay  the  plundering  Hittites  to  the  last  man  (§  340). 


*It  is  this  episode  which  the  reliefs  depict  so  vivaciously  in  the  battle  scene 
(§335)- 

^Battle  of  Kadeshf  37,  38.  Since  reading  my  account  of  the  incident, 
Eduard  Meyer  suggests  to  me  that  these  troops  may  be  reinforcements  from  the 
coast,  which  have  landed  at  one  of  the  Phoenician  harbors,  far  enough  south  to  be 
in  Amor.  It  is  not  possible  that  these  are  infantry  reinforcements  belonging  to 
the  troops  south  of  Shabtuna,  although  they  are  spoken  of  as  arriving  ^^from  Amoft* 
for  the  text  mentioning  them  clearly  distinguishes  them  from  the  divisions  of  Re  and 
Ptah.  But  the  course  of  the  battle  and  the  disposition  of  the  troops  are  from  this 
point  quite  uncertain.  Ramses’  desperate  assault  with  his  bodyguard  is  the  sub¬ 
ject  and  the  raison  (Titre  of  all  these  documents,  and  they  depict  the  whole  victory 
as  consisting  in  this  one  heroic  incident.  This  over,  the  subsequent  course  of  the 
battle  between  the  opposing  forces,  in  which  the  king  is  no  longer  so  conspicuous, 
is  of  little  importance  to  any  of  the  three  documents. 


134 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  H 


[1 303 


The  fleeing  troops  of  Ramses  now  rallied,  and  together  with 
the  “recruits"  just  mentioned,  the  Eg3^tian  force  engaged 
was  no  longer  a  mere  handful. 

303.  It  is  apparently  at  the  head  of  these  forces  that 
Ramses  now  charges  six  times  into  the  mass  of  the  Hittite 
chariotry  that  lies  between  him  and  the  reinforcements  ap¬ 
proaching  from  the  south,  and  brings  the  enemy  to  a  stand.  “ 
The  Hittite  king  now  sent  in  an  additional  thousand  chariots 
from  his  reserves.®  Ramses  has  maintained  himself  for 
some  three  hours  and  at  this  juncture,  while  he  is  holding 
his  own  against  fearful  odds,  the  vizier  arrives  with  the 
division  of  Ptah,  and  coming  in  from  the  south,  quite  unex¬ 
pectedly  strikes  the  Asiatics  in  the  rear.'*  After  Ramses’ 
stubborn  stand  this  unforeseen  blow  in  the  rear  quickly 
decides  the  contest,  and  the  Hittite  chariotry  breaks  and 
flees  into  the  city.  Caught  between  the  closing  lines  of  the 
Egyptians,  some  of  them  were  taken  prisoners  and  many 
slain;'  and  the  Hittite  king  was  forced  to  see  the  day,  begun 
so  auspiciously  for  him,  now  lost,  without  being  able  to 
throw  in  against  the  Eg)q)tian  chariots  the  8,000  or  9,000  foot 
which  for  some  reason  he  held  in  reserve  to  the  end  on  the 
other  shore. 

304-  Whether  Ramses  attempted  an  assault  upon  this 
Asiatic  infantry  or  not,  is  a  question  upon  which  our  docu¬ 
ments  throw  no  light.  The  poem  claims  that  there  was 
another  battle  on  the  next  day,  which  is  extremely  doubtful* 
In  any  case,  it  is  clear  that  Kadesh  is  not  taken,*  and  Ramses, 

•‘Boitle  of  Kadesht  39. 

'>The  Luxor  relief  shows  this  approach  in  the  rear  of  the  Asiatic  chariotry, 
which  is  seen  retreating  into  the  city.  It  is  clear  that  the  Hittites  were  forced  by 
Ramses’  strong  stand  to  put  in  all  their  chariotry  against  him,  and  were  unable  to 
prevent  the  advance  of  the  division  of  Ptah. 

c  Reliefs,  BaUle  of  Kadesh^  PL  V. 

^Battle  of  Kadesh,  40.  ^Battle  of  Kadesh,  46,  47.  ^See  p.  142,  note  b. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


135 


*305] 


happy  in  his  remarkable  escape  from  destruction,  and  proud 
of  the  personal  reputation  gained,  having  won  the  battle  with 
but  a  portion*  of  his  army,  is  glad  to  return  to  Egypt  for  a 
time,  where  he  offers  his  prisoners  to  Amon.’’  But  Syria  as 
far  south  as  Kadesh,  if  not  farther,  remains  in  the  hands  of 
the  Hittites. 

a.  Poem  on  the  Battle  oj  Kadesh° 

305.  This  poem,  long  called  the  “Poem  of  Pentaur,”  is 
our  most  important  document  for  a  study  of  the  battle  of 
Kadesh.  It  is,  fortunately  for  us,  introduced  by  a  sober  and 
careful  prose  account  of  Ramses’  departure  from  Eg)^t,  his 
march  to  Kadesh,  and  the  position  of  his  four  divisions  up 
to  the  moment  of  the  Asiatic  attack.  Supplemented  by  the 


•The  entire  division  of  Sutekh  was  too  far  away  to  reach  the  field  in  time. 
^Reliefs,  §§  348-51. 

cFor  fuller  statement  of  bibliography,  see  my  Battle  of  Kadesh^  6,  7.  The 
texts  are  of  two  kinds:  hieroglyphic  and  hieratic.  The  hieroglyphic  text  has 
been  found  in  three  copies  on  temple  walls:  at  Luxor  (Rougd,  Inscriptions 
hiiroglyphiqueSj  IV,  232-48;  Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments^  II,  40-42;  lower 
ends,  Daressy,  Revue  egyptologiquCj  IX,  58);  Karnak  (Roug4,  ibid.,  IV,  206-31; 
Brugsch,  ibid.,  II,  29-32;  Marictte,  Karnak,  48-51);  and  Abydos  (Marictte, 
Abydos,  II,  4,  5).  All  these  originals  arc  excessively  fragmentary,  especially  the 
one  at  Abydos,  of  which  only  the  lower  ends  of  the  vertical  lines  have  survived. 
Of  the  publications  the  Karnak  copies  of  Brugsch  and  Mariette  are  so  incomplete 
as  to  be  unusable,  and  Rouge’s  copies  are  neither  accurate  nor  exhaustive.  Besides 
the  above  publications,  I  had  a  collation  of  Abydos  by  Borchardt,  and  photographs 
of  Karnak  also  by  Borchardt,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  the  Berlin  dictionary. 
Of  the  hieratic  text  there  are  two  papyri,  both  belonging  to  the  same  roll;  Papyrus 
Raifet,  containing  only  one  page  of  ten  lines  (published  by  Roug^,  Recueil,  I,  and 
Papyrus  Sallier  III  (select  Papyrus  I,  24-34),  containing  eleven  pages.  Raifet 
precedes  Sallier  III,  but  the  beginning  is  lost.  I  arranged  all  the  texts  in  parallel 
columns,  and  this  quadruplex  was  then  carefully  collated  with  the  original  Papyrus 
Sallier  III,  in  the  British  Museum,  by  Professor  Erman.  The  texts  were  once 
similarly  put  together  by  E.  de  Roug^  and  published  by  J.  dc  Rougd  {Revue  igypto- 
logique,  III-IX),  but  without  the  Abydos  copy,  the  lower  part  of  Luxor,  or  a  collation 
of  the  original  Papyrus  Sallier  III.  The  addition  of  Abydos  has  filled  a  consid¬ 
erable  number  of  lacunae,  and  the  collation  of  Sallier  III  has  likewise  cleared  up 
many  difficulties.  As  a  long  passage  is  misplaced  in  the  hieratic  text,  and  it  lacks 
also  the  beginning  (ten  lines),  it  was  necessary  to  adopt  the  line  numbering  from 
the  hieroglyphic  for  which  the  Luxor  text  was  chosen.  All  passages  on  movements 
connected  with  the  battle  are  published  in  my  Battle  of  Kadesh. 


136 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY;  RAMSES  H 


[§306 


official  record  of  the  battle  (§§  316  ff.),  we  are  able  to 
trace  in  it  all  Ramses’  movements,  immediately  before  and 
leading  up  to  the  battle. 

The  discussion  of  the  poem  as  a  literary  composition 
does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  volume.® 

Introduction 

306.  ^'^Beginning  of  the  victory  of  King  Usermare-Setepnere 
(Ramses  II),  [who  is  given  life],  forever,  which  he  achieved  in  the  land 
of  Kheta  (fft^)  and  Naharin  (N-h-ry-n),  in  the  land  of  Arvad  (F-r  ^  - 
tw)j^  in  Pedes  (Py-d^-s^),  in  the  Derden  {D^  -r-d-ny),  in  the  land 
of  *Mesa  (M^  -s^),  in  the  land  of  Kelekesh  ^ -r  ^ ^  sic!), 
— ,  Carchemish  (K-[r^]-i-my-JI  ^),  Kode  {l^dy),  the  land  of  Kadesh 
(j^di),  in  the  land  of  Ekereth  -k^  -/),  and  Mesheneth  {Mw4  ^  -n-t). 

3  8  d 


Preparations  and  March  to  the  Frontier  at  Tharu 

307,  Behold,  his  majesty  prepared  his  infantry  and  his  chariotry, 
the  Sherden®  (5  ^  -r  ^  -dy-n  ^)  of  the  captivity  of  his  majesty  from  the 


will  be  found  complete  with  translation  and  notes  in  a  later  volume  of  this 

series. 

'^The  conventional  phrase  for  beginning  a  literary  composition. 

cThis  location  of  the  battle  in  all  these  lands  is  probably  a  loose  way  of  indi¬ 
cating  that  the  land  in  which  it  took  place  was  then  in  the  possession  of  these  nation¬ 
alities.  Of  the  old  Syrian  enemies  of  Egypt,  we  see  in  this  list  (also  11.  13-15  and 
24):  Naharin,  Arvad,  Carchemish,  Kode,  Kadesh,  Nuges,  Ekereth  (Ugarit  of 
Amarna  Letters),  Aleppo,  and  perhaps  Mesheneth.  The  others,  Kheta,  Pedes, 
Derden,  Mesa,  Kelekesh,  Kezweden,  and  Luka  (or  Lukat),  are  the  Hittites  and 
their  neighbors  in  Asia  Minor.  Of  the  latter  the  Luka  are  almost  certainly  the 
I..ycians,  the  Kelekesh,  probably  the  Cilicians,  the  Derden,  perhaps  the  Dardan- 
ians,  and  the  Mesa,  the  Mysians.  Kezweden  was  a  part  of  the  Hittite  kingdom. 
The  remnant  is  entirely  uncertain,  though  many  indentifications  have  been  pro¬ 
posed.  See  Muller’s  treatment  (^Asien  und  Europa,  334  f.  and  355  ff.),  and  Hall 
{^Annals  0}  British  School  at  Athens^  VIII,  157). 

dHymn  of  praise  of  the  king’s  valor. 

®Earliest  mention  of  these  mercenaries  in  an  Egyptian  document,  although 
they  were  used  at  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  as  shown  by  Amarna  Letters ^ 
(ed.  Winckler)  where  they  were  called  Shirdana.  They  are  identified  with  the 
Sardinians  (Miiller,  Asien  und  Europa^  372  ff.,  where  the  Shirdana,  of  the  Amarna 
Letters,  are  still  unknown). 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


137 


§308] 


victories  of  his  sword  - 1  »  they  gave  the  plan^  of  battle. 

His  majesty  proceeded  northward,  his  infantry  and  his  chariotry  being 
with  him.  He  began^  the  goodly  way,  to  march.  Year  5,  the  second 
month  of  the  third  season  (tenth  month),  on  the  ninth  day,*^  his  majesty 
passed  the  fortress  of  Tharu  (T^  -rw)  ®  [like]  Montu  when 

he  goes  forth.  Every  country  trembled  before  him,  ffeari]  was  in  their 
hearts;  all  the  frebelsi  came  bowing  down  for  fear  of  the  fame  of  his 
majesty,  when  his  [army]  came  “upon  the  fnarrowi^  road,  being  like 
one  who  is  upon  the  highway  of  — . 

March  from  Tharu  to  the  Region  oj  Kadesh 

308.  Now,  after  many*^  days  after  this,  behold,  his  majesty  was 

in  ‘‘Usermare-Meriamon,**^  L.  P  H.,  the  city  of  - ^  cedar. 

His  majesty  proceeded  northward,  and  he  then  **arrived  at  the  high¬ 
land!  of  Kadesh  {Kdl),  Then  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  marched  before, 
like  his  father,  Montu  lord  of  Thebes,  and  crossed  over  the  channel 


•Lacuna  of  uncertain  length.  '^Compare  Uni,  1.  19  (I,  312). 

cLit.,  'Hook  the  head  0}  the  goodly  way,**  a  phrase  regularly  used  when  a 
king  sets  out  on  an  enterprise,  like  Queen  Hatshepsut*s  expedition  to  Punt,  Amen- 
hotep  Ill’s  wild  cattle  hunt,  or  Amenhotep  IV’s  inspection  of  the  Amarna  bound¬ 
aries  (II,  960,  1.  6), 

Mbout  the  end  of  April.  «Lacuna  of  uncertain  length. 

^This  word  (g  ^  wt)  is  a  little  uncertain;  the  meaning  given  is  that  of  Brugsch, 
who  states  {Dictionnaire  gcographique,  995)  that  it  designates  here  the  narrow 
road  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  lake  of  Serbonis.  The  meaning  fits  this 
passage  well,  but  there  is  only  one  other  example  of  the  word  (which  is  not  decisive). 
Muller  {Asien  und  Euro  pa,  216)  refers  it  above  to  the  narrow  way  in  the  valley 
(BuJj^^a)  between  the  Lebanons,  but  the  ‘‘many  days’”  march  leading  to  the 
Lebanon  region  is  still  in  the  future  (11.  ii,  12),  not  in  the  past,  as  Muller  states 
{ibid.,  216,  n.  3). 

aPapyrus  Raifet  begins  here. 

^Some  unknown  city  named  after  the  king,  and  apparently  reached  after 
the  departure  from  the  coast.  Muller  places  it  near  southern  Lebanon  {Asien 
und  Europa,  273,  7). 

^Lacuna  of  uncertain  length,  containing  of  course,  some  reference  to  the 
arrival  among  the  cedars  of  Lebanon. 

iThis  highland  is  "south  of  Kadesh,**  according  to  the  Record  (1.  2),  and  as 
he  crosses  to  the  west  side  of  Orontes  later  on  (1.  12),  where  the  battle  took  place, 
the  highland  must  be  some  hill  on  the  east  side.  The  plain  between  Orontes  and 
Anti-Lebanon  is  here  some  twenty  miles  wide  {Palestine  Ejcploration  Fund  Quarterly 
Report,  1881,  166),  and  the  highland  referred  to  is  that  of  Kamfi « at  el-Harmel 
(Fig.  7  and  Battle  of  Kadesh,  19-21). 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§309 


138 


of  the  Orontes®  -r-n-t),  there  being  with  him  the  first  division  of 
Amon^  (named):  “Victory-of-King-Usermare-Setepnere-L.-P.-H/' 

The  Coalition  oj  the  Prince  of  Kheta 

309.  When  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  reached  the  city,*^  behold,  *3the 
wretched,  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  {Jfft  had  come,  having  gathered 
together  all  countries  from  the  ends  of  the  sea  to  the  land  of  Kheta, 
which  came  entire:  the  Naharin  (N-h-ry-n)  likewise,  and  Arvad 
-tw),  — ,  ^Mesa  (M^-5w),  Keshkesh  Kelekesh 

(K  ^  -r  ^  -ky-k^  ^),  Luka  {Rw-k  ^),  Kezweden  -dn),  Carche- 

mish  (K-r^  Ekereth  -ry-t),  Kode  (Kdy),  the  entire 

land  of  Nuges  (Nw-g-s),  Mesheneth  -n-t),  and  Kadesh  (^dS). 

^sHe  left  not  a  country  which  was  not  brought,  tofgether  with^  their 
chiefs^  who  were  with  him,  every  man  bringing  his  chariotry,  an  exceeding 
great  multitude,  without  its  like.  They  covered  the  mountains  and  the 
valleys;  they  were  like  grasshoppers  with  their  multitudes.  *^He  left 
not  silver  nor  gold®  in  his  land  (but)  he  plundered  it  of  all  its  possessions 
and  gave  to  every  country,  in  order  to  bring  them  with  him  to  battle. 


^Compare  the  same  phrase  on  Amenhotep  II^s  Syrian  campaign  (II,  784, 
1.  4).  This  is  the  crossing  at  the  ford  south  of  Shabtuna,  where  the  Pharaoh  was 
met  by  the  two  Shasu-Bedwin,  with  the  false  report  (Record,  11.  2,  3). 

'^The  rest  of  the  army  being  some  distance  in  the  rear  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  When  the  whole  army  is  with  him,  the  usual  phrase  is:  **his  infantry  and 
his  chariotry  being  with  him;''  e.  g.,  1. 9.  Ramses  is  therefore  already  far  in  advance 
of  the  other  three  divisions,  just  as  he  was  later  when  the  Hittites  attacked  him. 

cKadesh. 

din  place  of  these  two  names  the  hieroglyphic  texts  all  have  Py-d  and 
Yr-wn.  KSkS  is  supposed  by  Muller  to  be  a  corruption  of  -r^  -ky-l^  >,  but  as 
it  has  a  different  k  and  occurs  in  the  Papyrus  side  by  side  with  Kelekesh,  the 
supposition  is  doubtful,  if  not  improbable.  On  the  list  as  a  whole,  see  p.  136,  n.  c. 

®Instead  of  Ekereth,  Raifet  has  Kadesh,  which  is,  of  course,  senseless  repeti¬ 
tion,  like  that  of  the  other  texts  in  repeating  Kadesh  at  the  end  of  the  list. 

Ut  is  incredible  that  the  larger  kingdoms  of  Asia  Minor  should  have  been 
represented  at  this  battle  by  their  kings  {wr~w).  These  mercenaries  of  the  Hittite 
king  had,  of  course,  their  commanders;  the  Syrian  princes  were  some  of  them 
really  present,  and  the  Egyptians  were  glad  to  class  the  mercenary  commanders 
as  similar  princes,  to  the  greater  glory  of  the  Pharaoh^s  victory.  The  close  of  this 
section  (§  309)  shows  clearly  how  these  mercenaries  were  enhsted. 

sKarnak,  the  only  hieroglyphic  text  preserved  here,  has:  “Ac  left  no  silver  at 
all  {M  nb)/'  This  may  point  to  the  more  plentiful  use  of  silver  in  Asia  Minor, 
where  it  was  produced. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR* 


^39 


§310] 


The  Positions  of  the  Two  Armies 

310.  Behold,  the  wretched,  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta,  together 
with  the  numerous  allied  countries,  were  stationed®-  in  battle  array, 
concealed  on  the  northwest  of  the  city  of  Kadesh,^  while  his  majesty 
*^was  alone  by  himself,®  [with]  his  bodyguard,®  and  the  division  of 
Amon  was  marching  behind  him.  The  division  of  Re  crossed  over  the 
river-bed  on  the  south  side  of  the  town  of  Shabtuna  -h-tw-n),^  at 

the  distance  of  an  iter®  from  the  fdivision  of  Amon^;  - the 

division  of  Ptah  was  on  the  south  of  **the  city  of  Aranami  ^  -r  ^  ^  -w) ; 

and  the  division  of  Sutekh  was  marching  upon  the  road.*  His  majesty 
had  formed  the  first  rank  of  all  the  leaders  of  his  army,  while  they  were 
on  the  shore  in^  the  land  of  the  Amor  Behold,  the 


®So  Raifet.  The  hieroglyphic  texts  have:  **were  stationed,  concealed  tn  battle 
array,  ]^hehindy\  the  city  of  KadeshV 

^See  plan  (Fig.  q)  for  the  following  positions. 

cRaifet  has  in  place  of  this  phrase:  **none  other  was  with  him;'*  but  the  above 
text  (Karnak)  is  more  probably  correct. 

dRaifet  has  S^-bw-dw-n^,  and  says  **west  side."  It  is  the  town  later  called 
Ribleh  {Battle  of  Kadesh,  21,  22).  The  location  of  this  town  is  clear  from  the 
references  given  by  the  Poem  and  the  Record.  After  camping  on  the  ^^high¬ 
lands  south  of  Kadesh"  (Record,  1.  2),  Ramses  advances  toward  Kadesh,  and 
on  the  way  thither  passes  Shabtuna  (Record,  1.  3),  which  is  near  a  ford  over  the 
Orontes,  as  our  above  passage  shows.  Shabtuna  was  therefore  on  the  Orontes  a 
few  miles  south  of  Kadesh.  [Conder  {Palestine  Exploration  Fund  Quarterly 
Report,  1881,  169  ff.)  was  not  furnished  with  proper  data  from  the  inscriptions, 
for  the  location  of  Shabtuna.]  Ramses,  having  hitherto  advanced  on  the  east  side 
of  Orontes,  is  now  moving  on  the  west  side,  while  half  his  force  is  still  on  the  east 
side  (Fig.  9). 

«This  variable  measure  does  not  exceed  if  miles  (see  II,  965). 

^Raifet  has:  ^*the  division  of  Ptah  was  opposite  them"  This  indicates  that 
Aranami  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  Orontes.  It  is  certain  that  Aranami  is  south 
of  Shabtuna,  for  the  division  of  Ptah,  here  marching  northward,  while  just  south 
of  Aranami,  was  still  south  of  Shabtuna  when  sent  for  by  Ramses  after  the  attack 
of  the  Asiatics  (Record,  11.  18,  19).  See  Battle  of  Kadesh,  22,  23. 

«A  very  indefinite  indication,  showing  only  that  this  division  was  far  away 
somewhere  on  the  road.  It  is  not  mentioned  again,  and  did  not  get  up  in  time 
for  the  battle. 

Raifet  has  “o/.” 

iThe  shore  of  Amor"  is  the  Mediterranean  coast,  at  some  point  in  southern 
Lebanon,  where  Ramses  turned  inland.  (Cf.  Meyer,  Festschrift  fur  Georg  Ebers, 
69,  n.  2);  it  was  long  mistranslated  “lake.”  This  detail  of  Ramses’  manipulation 
of  his  troops,  therefore,  refers  back  to  an  earlier  stage  of  the  campaign  like  a  similar 
remark  on  the  arrangement  of  the  Hittite  king’s  troops  (at  end  of  1.  19). 


140 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[53x1 


wretched  *«>vanquished  chief  of^  Kheta  was  stationed  in  the  midst  of 
the  infantry  which  was  with  him,  and  he  came  not  out  to  fight,  for  fear 
of  his  majesty.  Then  he  made  to  go  the  people  of  the  chariotry,  an 
exceedingly  numerous  multitude  like  the  sand,  being  three  people  to  each 
span.^  Now,  they  had  made  their  combinations  (thus) :  among  every 
three  youths  was  one  man  of  the  vanquished  of  Kheta,  *®equipped 
with  all  the  weapons  of  battle.  Lo,  they  had  stationed  them  in  battle 
array,  concealed  on  the  northwest^  the  city  of  Kadesh. 

The  Attack  oj  the  Asiatics 

31 1.  They  came  forth  from  the  southern  side  of  Kadesh,  and  they 
cut  through  the  division  of  Re  in  its  middle,  while  they  were  marching 
without  knowing  and  without  *  “being  drawn  up  for  battle.  The  infantry 
and  chariotry  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  retreated  before  them.  Now, 
his  majesty  had  halted  on  the  north  of  the  city  of  Kadesh,  on  the  western 
side  of  the  Orontes  (^-r-n-l).  Then  came  one  to  tell®  it  to  his  maj¬ 
esty,  L.  P.  H. 

Ramses*  Attack 

312.  His  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  shone  like  his  father  »*Montu,  when 
he  took  the  adornments  of  war;  as  he  seized  his  coat  of  mail,  he  was 
like  Baal  in  his  hour.  The  great  span  which  bore  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H., 
called:  “Victory-in-Thebes,’^  from  the  great  stables  of  Ramses  (II), 


•Here  Papyrus  Raifet  ends  and  Papyrus  Sallier  begins. 

^With  every  two  of  the  mercenaries  was  one  Hittite,  each  three  thus  formed 
being  in  one  chariot.  This  is  omitted  in  the  hieroglyphic  texts. 

cSallier  adds;  “  without  number;**  but  this  is  a  misunderstanding  by  the  ancient 
copyist. 

^So  the  Papyrus.  The  hieroglyphic  versions  have  only  behind**  but  as  the 
Egyptian  army  is  south  and  southeast  of  Kadesh,  behind  Kadesh**  is  for  them  the 
north  and  northwest. 

•This  messenger  doubtless  found  the  king  already  engaged  in  battle.  At  any 
rate,  the  messenger  could  only  confirm  what  Ramses  had  already  learned  from 
the  two  Hittite  scouts.  Had  he  arrived  earlier,  the  torture  of  the  scouts  would 
have  been  unnecessary.  Their  torture,  therefore,  shows  that  this  messenger  had 
not  yet  arrived.  The  attack  in  the  south,  therefore,  which  cut  in  two  the  marching 
division  of  Re,  being  at  the  most  not  more  than  a  few  miles  from  Ramses’  camp, 
could  not  have  taken  place  very  long  before  the  attack  on  said  camp.  This  would 
indicate  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Egyptians  were  driven  northward  into  Ramses’ 
camp. 


5314]  the  ASIATIC  WAR  141 


•was  in  the  midst  of  the  leaders,®  His  majesty  halted  in  the  rout;'* 
then  *3he  charged  into  the  foe,  the  vanquished  of  Kheta,  being  alone 
by  himself  and  none  other  with  him.  When  his  majesty  went  to  look 
behind  him,  he  found  2,500  chariotry  surrounding  him,  in  his  way  out, 
*4being  all  the  youth  of  the  wretched  Kheta,  together  with  its  numerous 
allied  countries:  from  Arvad  from  Mesa  (Jlf’-r*),  from 

Pedes  {Py-d^-s  ^),  from  Keshkesh  (Ki-kS),  from  Erwenet®  {Yr-wn' t,  sic !), 
from  Kezweden  -d^  -w^  -d^  -n ’),  from  Aleppo  (^y-r'^-bw),  Eketeri 
-t-r-y,  sic!),  Kadesh  (J^di),  and  Luka  {Rw-k  ’  -<^),  being  three  men 
to  a  span,  acting  in  unison. 

313*  Now  follow  highly  idealized  and  sometimes  purely 
imaginary  incidents,  the  creation  of  the  poet,  in  which 
nothing  is  historical  save  the  one  fact  that  Ramses  holds 
his  own  until  the  arrival  of  his  southern  army.  He  first 
calls  upon  Amon  for  help  in  his  unequal  battle.  Amon 
responds  and  strengthens  him  against  the  foe.  The  king 
of  the  Kheta  is  obliged  to  summon  his  allied  commanders 
and  send  them  into  the  fray.  Ramses  addresses  a  scathing 
rebuke  to  his  own  troops,  and  when  his  charioteer  is  dis¬ 
mayed  because  they  are  entirely  surrounded,  he  encourages 
him  and  charges  six  times  into  the  hostile  ranks,  thus  holding 
the  enemy  in  check  until  his  reinforcements  from  the  south 
can  come  up.* 

314.  At  evening  the  captives  of  every  country  are  brought 
to  the  king’s  tent,  and  the  next  morning  the  plain  is  seen 


*This  phrase  is  not  in  Luxor  (the  only  hieroglyphic  text  preserved  at  this  point), 
and  the  connection  in  the  hieroglyphic  version  was  apparently:  **The  great  span 
etc.f . was  called,  etc.'* 

hThe  same  word  {yfd)  is  used  of  the  headlong  flight  of  the  Syrians  before 
Thutmose  III  at  the  battle  of  Megiddo  (II,  430,  1.  4). 

cfiy  Brugsch  identified  with  IlionI  Miiller  would  read  the  first  syllable 
(Fr)  as  y  5,  producing  Yawan,  or  lonians.  For  this  reading  the  evidence  is  insuffi¬ 
cient. 

<iThe  last  six  names  are  omitted  by  the  hieroglyphic  texts;  hence  the  incorrect 
writings,  as  the  papyrus  is  inaccurate. 

®There  is  no  reference  to  the  arrival  of  the  recruits”  who  began  the 


rescue. 


143 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[531s 


covered  with  the  dead,  especially  of  the  family  of  tlie  prince 
of  Kheta.®  The  army  comes  to  the  king’s  tent  and  cele¬ 
brates  his  victory  in  a  hymn  of  praise.  But  the  king  re¬ 
sponds,  reminding  them  of  their  cowardice,  and  reproaching 
them  that  they  did  not  depend  upon  him  to  lead  and  protect 
them.  The  next  (?)  morning  Ramses  drew  up  his  battle 
lines  and  renewed  the  attack  with  such  effect  that  the  prince 
of  Kheta  sent  a  humble  letter  suing  for  peace,  which  the 
king  read  in  triumph  before  his  assembled  troops,  who  there¬ 
upon  gave  him  another  ovation.**  Pleased  with  this  flattery, 
he  marches  southward,  and  returns  in  peace  to  Thebes, 
where,  of  course,  he  is  received  with  triumphant  jubilation 
by  the  people. 

315.  The  last  three  lines  of  Papyrus  Sallier  III  (XI,  9-1 1), 
which  is  the  only  text  in  which  the  conclusion  is  preserved, 
furnish  the  date  of  “this  writing,  in  the  year  p,  second  month 
of  the  third  season,  day  — ,  [under  the  majesty]  of  King  Ramses 
//.”  This  particular  copy  was  one  “which  the  scribe, 
Pentewere'^  (Pn-t^  -wr' t)  made”  (XI,  ii),  a  mere  copyist, 
who  was  not  the  author  of  the  poem,  as  is  still  usually  stated. 

b.  Official  Record  of  the  Battle  of  Kadesh^ 

316.  This  document  is  appended  to  the  wall  scenes 
(§§  328-47),  and  seems  to  have  been  an  oflScial  record  of 


»This  is  corroborated  by  the  reliefs. 

'^Even  the  Poem  makes  no  claim  that  Ramses  captured  Kadesh,  as  is  so  often 
stated  in  the  histories.  It  seems  incredible,  furthermore,  that  there  should  have 
been  a  successful  battle  on  the  next  day,  of  which  the  reliefs  and  inscriptions 
should  show  not  a  single  trace.  It  is  possible  to  conclude  with  Miiller  {Asien 
und  Europa^  216,  n.  i)  that  the  entire  conclusion  of  the  poem,  recounting  the 
Hittite  king’s  letter  proposing  peace,  is  to  be  referred  to  the  actual  arrangements 
for  peace  in  year  21;  but  see  my  Battle  of  Kadesh,  46.  In  any  case,  the  poem 
is  clearly  wrong  in  placing  a  treaty  of  peace  after  the  battle  of  Kadesh,  for  Ramses 
continued  the  conflict  with  the  lEttites  until  long  after  this. 

cUsually  called  “Pentaur;”  that  he  was  not  the  author  of  the  poem,  as  for¬ 
merly  supposed,  was  shown  by  Erman  {Neudgyptische  Grammatikf  7). 

dSee  my  Battle  of  Kadesh,  7,  for  fuller  discussion  of  bibliography.  Three 
originals: 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


143 


S319] 


the  battle.  It  is  not  as  full  as  the  Poem  on  the  marches 
and  positions  of  the  two  armies,  but  it  narrates  fully  the 
inside  history  which  led  to  Ramses’  incautious  advance  to 
the  north  of  Kadesh,  furnishing  an  account  of  the  earliest 
military  ruse  known  in  history.  Of  all  this  the  Poem  says 
nothing. 

Date 

317.  *Year  5,  third  month  of  the  third  season,  day  9;*  under  the 
majesty  of  Horus:  Mighty  Bull,  Beloved  of  Truth;  King  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt:  Usermare-Setepnere;  Son  of  Re;  Ramses-Meriamon, 
given  life  forever. 

Camp  South  oj  Kadesh 

318.  Lo,  his  majesty  was  in  Zahi  (Z>  ^  -hy)^  on  his  second  victorious 
campaign.  The  goodly  watch*^  in  *life,  prosperity  and  health,  in  the 
tent  of  his  majesty,  was  on  the  highland  south  of  Kadesh. 

False  Message  of  the  Shasu  near  Shabtuna 

319.  When  his  majesty  appeared  like  the  rising  of  Re,  he  assumed 
the  adornments  of  his  father,  Montu.  When  the  king  proceeded 


1.  Abu  Simbel  (Champollion,  Monuments^  27-29;  Rosellini,  Monumenti 
Storici,  100-102;  Lcpsius,  DenkmdleTf  III,  187,  c-€.  I  had  also  photographs  by 
Griinau,  kindly  loaned  me  by  Steindorff. 

2.  Ramesseum  (Lepsius,  ibid.^  Ill,  153;  Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions,  2d 
part,  52). 

3.  Luxor  (Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments,  II,  53;  Champollion,  Monuments, 
127  his;  Rosellini,  ibid.,  106). 

Of  these  Luxor  is  not  given  by  Champollion  and  Rosellini,  but  was  copied  by 
Brugsch.  Furthermore,  the  Abu  Simbel  text  is  bad,  sometimes  omitting  whole 
passages.  Champollion  and  Rosellini’s  copy  of  this  text  is  unusable,  two  whole 
lines  being  omitted  and  often  the  sand-covered  lower  ends.  Although  I  collated  the 
Abu  Simbel  text  exhaustively,  the  translation  is  based  chiefly  on  the  Ramesseum. 
For  this  text  I  had  only  Lepsius,  Denkmdler;  for  Sharpe’s  copy  is  totally  worthless. 
Though  all  the  originals  show  lacunae,  I  found  these  disappeared  on  arranging  them 
in  parallel  columns.  A  combined  text  by  Guieysse  {Recueil,  VIII,  126-31)  I  found 
unreliable.  The  line  numbers  herein  refer  to  the  Ramesseum  text.  All  passages 
on  movements  of  the  battle  are  also  published  in  my  Battle  of  Kadesh. 

•This  is  about  the  end  of  May  (see  Breasted,  Zeitschrift  filr  dgyptische  Sprache, 
37,  129),  just  one  month  after  leaving  the  Egyptian  frontier  at  Tharu  (Poem,  I.  9). 

l>This  shows  that  Zahi  was  not  confined  to  Phoenicia,  this  jmssage  making  it 
extend  inland  over  Lebanon  and  the  Orontes  valley.  See  also  II,  616,  11.  9, 10. 

^Compare  Thutmose  Ill’s  camp  at  Aruna  (II,  425,  11.  56,  57). 


144 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§320 


northward,  and  his  majesty  had  arrived  at  the  locality  south  of  ^the 
town  of  Shabtuna*  ■‘b-tw-n)y  there  came  two'^  Shasu,  to  speak  to 
his  majesty  as  follows:  “Our  brethren,  who  belong  to  the  greatest 
of  the  families  with  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta,  have  made  us 
come  to  ^his  majesty,  to  say:  ‘We  will  be  subjects  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H., 
and  we  will  flee  from  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta;  for  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta  sits^  in  the  land  of  Aleppo  (ffy-r^-hw)y  on  the  north  of 
Tunip  {Tw-n-p),  He  fears  ^because  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  to  come 
southward.’  ”  Now,  these  Shasu  spake  these  words,  which  they  spake 
to  his  majesty,  falsely,  (for)  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  made  them 
come  to  spy  ^where  his  majesty  was,  in  order  to  cause  the  army  of  his 
majesty  not  to  draw  up  for  fighting  him,*^  to  battle  with  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta. 

Positions  of  the  Two  Armies 

320,  Lo,  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  came  with  every  chief  of 
every  country,  their  infantry  and  their  chariotry,  ^which  he  had  brought 
with  him  by  force,®  and  stood,  equipped,  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle 
behind  Kadesh  the  Deceitful,  while  his  majesty  knew  it  not.  Then 
his  majesty  proceeded  northward  and  arrived  on  the  northwest^  of 
Kadesh;  ^and  the  army  of  his  majesty  fmade  camp^  there. 

Examination  of  Hittite  Scouts 

321,  Then,  as  his  majesty  sat  upon  a  throne  of  gold,  there  arrived  a 
scout  who  was  in  the  following  of  his  majesty,  and  he  brought  two  scouts 
of  ’the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta.  They  were  conducted  into  the  pre- 


•On  the  location  of  Shabtuna,  see  Battle  of  Kadesh^  21,  22,  and  infra^  p.  139, 
n.  d;  and  the  plans  of  the  battle  (Figs.  7,  8). 

hAbu  Simbel  has  but  Ramesseum  has  ''three*'  which,  of  course,  may 

be  merely  the  plural  strokes. 

cSo  Abu  Simbel;  Ramesseum  has  "isP  The  former  omits  "the  land  of." 

dThat  is,  to  keep  the  Egyptians  in  marching  order,  that  he  might  surprise 
and  find  them  unprepared  for  battle,  as  he  actually  did. 

«Or:  "from  victories." 

*He  had  now  passed  northward  along  the  west  side  of  Kadesh,  and  camped 
on  the  northwest  of  the  city  {"norths"  Poem,  1.  21).  The  text  over  the  battle 
(§  3361  11-  3i  4)  also  says  he  camped  on  "the  northwest  of  Kadesh."  In  any  case, 
the  general  location  of  his  camp  is  certain.  L.  8  perhaps  began  with  some  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  position  of  Ramses'  three  divisions,  far  in  his  rear,  which  is  so  carefully 
noted  in  the  Poem  (11.  17,  18),  but  the  restoration  above  is  more  probable. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


§322] 


MS 


sence,  and  his  majesty  said  to  them:  “What  are  ye  ?”  They  said:  “As 
for  us,  the  vanquished  chief  of  the  Kheta  has  caused  that  we  should  come 
to  spy  out  where  his  majesty  is.”  Said  his  majesty  *®to  them:  “He I 
Where  is  he,  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  ?  Behold,  I  have  heard, 
saying:  ‘He  is  in  the  land  of  Aleppo  -b  Said  they:  “See, 

the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  is  stationed,  together  with  many  countries, 
** which  he  has  brought  with  him  by  force,®  being  every  country  which 
is  in  the  districts  of  the  land  of  Kheta,^  the  land  of  Naharin  (N-hy-r-n), 
and  all  Kode  They  are  equipped  with  infantry  and  chariotry, 

bearing  their  "weapons;  more  numerous  are  they  than  the  sand  of  the 
shore.  See,  they  are  standing,  drawn  up  for  battle,  behind^^  ELadesh 
the  Deceitful.” 


The  Council  of  War 

322.  Then  his  majesty  had  the  princes  called  into  the  presence, 
*3and  had  them  hear  every  word  which  the  two  scouts  of  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta,  who  were  in  the  presence,  had  spoken.  Said  his  maj« 
esty  to  them:  “See  ye  the  manner  wherewith  the  chiefs  {mr)  of  the 
peasantry®  {yw  ^  *  ty)  and  *^the  officials  under  whom  is  the  land  of  Pha¬ 
raoh,  L.  P.  H.,  have  stood,  dally,  saying  to  the  Pharaoh:  ‘The  van¬ 
quished  chief  of  Kheta  is  in  the  land  of  Aleppo  (ffy-r ^  y)\  he  has 

fled  before  his  majesty,  ^Ssince  hearing  that,  behold,  he  came.'  So 
spake  they  to  his  majesty  daily.  But  see,  I  have  held  a  hearing  in  this 
very  hour,  with  the  two  scouts  of  *^the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta,  to 
the  effect  that  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  is  coming,  together  with 
the  numerous  countries  [that  are  with]  him,  being  people  and  horses, 
like  the  multitudes  of  the  sand.  They  are  stationed  behind  Kadesh  the 


aOr:  “in  victory ^ 

'^Clearly  showing  the  composite  character  of  the  Hittite  kingdom  at  this  time. 

cThis  is  a  clear  indication  of  the  extent  of  Kode;  all  the  rest  of  the  countries 
from  Arvad  to  Asia  Minor  arc  included  in  the  term  “a//  Kode**  But  see  MUller, 
Asien  und  Europa^  242,  48. 

Behind  Kadesh**  from  Ramses'  present  position  in  his  camp  on  the  ilorth 
of  Kadesh  is,  of  course,  south  of  Kadesh,  where  the  Hittites  moved  out  for  the 
attack  on  the  division  of  Re. 

®Or:  infantry;**  these  officials  are  parallel  with  *^the  governors  of  the  {for- 
eign)  countries**  in  1.  17.  It  is  clear  that  the  king  is  chiding  the  officials  in 
authority  both  in  Asia  and  Egypt,  that  is,  both  his  provincial  and  Egyptian 
officers. 


146 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§323 


Deceitful.  But  *^the  governors  of  the  countries  and  the  officials  under 
whose  authority  is  the  land  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  were  not  able  to  tell 
it  to  us.*' 

323.  Said  the  princes  who  were  in  the  presence  of  his  majesty: 
‘‘It  is  a  great  fault,  which  the  governors  of  the  countries  and  the  officials 
of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  have  committed  *®in  not  informing  that  ®the 
vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  was  near  the  king;*  and  (in)  that  they  told 
his^  report  to  his  majesty  daily." 

The  Divisions  in  the  South  Are  Ordered  Up 

324.  Then  the  vizier  was  ordered  to  hasten®  ^^the  army  of  his  maj¬ 
esty,  while  they  were  marching  on  the  south  of  Shabtuna^  (5  ^  -J-to-n), 
in  order  to  bring  them  to  the  place  where  his  majesty  was. 

The  Attack  of  the  Asiatics 

325.  Lo,  while  his  majesty  sat  talking®  with  *°the  princes,  the 
vanquished  chief  of  KLheta  came,^  and  the  numerous  countries,  which 
were  with  him.  They  crossed  over  the  channel*  on  the  south  of 


•Lit.,  **that  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  was  where  the  king  was.*' 

Wiz.,  the  false  report  of  the  Hittite  which  he  sent  out  by  the  two  Shasu  (11. 
3.  4)- 

cThe  vizier  sent  the  message  by  a  horseman,  and  probably  went  also  by  chariot 
himself  (§§333-4)* 

^This  is  one  of  the  most  important  statements  in  the  documents  on  this  battle. 
It  shows  that,  while  Ramses  is  in  camp  on  the  north  of  Kadesh  the  main  body  of 
his  army  is  south  of  Kadesh  on  the  march  in  the  vicinity  of  Shabtuna  (see  Fig.  ii). 
Besides  the  division  of  Amon,  which  is  with  Ramses,  only  the  division  of  Re  h^ 
passed  Shabtuna. 

•The  messenger  announcing  the  attack  on  the  division  of  Re  in  the  south  had 
up  to  this  point  not  yet  arrived,  and  Ramses  apparently  receives  no  notice  of  the 
attack  until  it  is  upon  him. 

^So  Ramesseum;  Abu  Simbel  has;  **with  [his\  infantry  and  his  chariotry 
likewise;**  but  this  is  incorrect;  the  entire  battle  was  one  of  chariotry,  as  the  reliefs 
show. 

sThis  channel  is,  of  course,  that  of  Orontes,  the  Hittite  king  having  previously 
led  his  forces  from  the  west  to  the  east  side,  now  goes  back  to  the  west  side,  in  order 
to  get  around  the  city,  while  keeping  it  between  him  and  the  Egyptians.  Being  a 
city  which  he  commanded,  he  could,  of  course,  go  through  it,  and  emerge  for  his 
attack  on  the  south  side,  unless  prevented  by  lack  of  gates  at  the  proper  points. 
But  this  would  probably  have  exposed  his  issuing  forces  to  the  view  of  the  marching 
division  of  Re,  as  the  city  wall  was  necessarily  clearly  in  view  across  the  moat. 
In  any  case,  there  must  have  been  some  cover  south  of  the  city  from  which  the 
Asiatics  emerged  for  the  attack. 


§328]  THE  ASIATIC  WAR  147 

Kadesh,  and  charged  into  the  army  of  his  majesty  while  they  were 
**marching,  and  not  expecting  it.  Then  the  infantry  and  chariotry 
of  his  majesty  retreated  before  them,  northward  to  the  place  where  his 
majesty  was.  Lo,  the  foes  *^of®  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  sur¬ 
rounded^  the  bodyguard  of  his  majesty,  who  were  by  his  side. 

Ramses'  Personal  Attack 

326.  When  his  majesty  saw  them,  he  was  enraged  against  them, 
like  his  father,  Montu,  lord  of  Thebes.  He  seized  the  adornments  of 
battle,  ^3and  arrayed  himself  in  his  coat  of  mail.  He  was  like  Baal  in 
his  hour.  Then  he  betook  himself  to  his  horses,  and  led  quickly  on, 
being  alone  by  ^^himself.  He  charged  into  the  foes  of  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta,  and  the  numerous  countries  which  were  with  him. 
His  majesty  was  like  Sutekh,  the  great  in  strength,  smiting  and  slaying 
among  them;  his  majesty  hurled  them  *sheadlong,  one  upon  another 
into  the  water  of  the  Orontes.*^ 

Ramses'  Own  Statement 

327.  ‘‘I  charged  all  countries,  while  I  was  alone,  my  infantry  and 
my  chariotry  having  forsaken  me.  Not  one  among  them  stood  to  turn 
about.  I  swear,  as  Re  loves  me,  as  my  father,  Atum,  favors  me,  that, 
as  for  every  matter  which  his  majesty  has  stated,  I  did  it  in  truth,  in  the 
presence  of  my  infantry  and  my  chariotry.'^ 

c.  The  Reliefs  of  the  Battle  of  Kadesh^ 

328.  The  pictured  story  of  the  battle  of  Kadesh  presented 
in  these  reliefs,  like  the  great  epic  poem  on  the  battle,  was 
a  source  of  such  gratification  to  Ramses,  that  he  had  them 
reproduced  six  times  in  the  temples  of  Upper  Egypt  and 


aViz.,  “  belonging  to.** 

'^The  Hittite  king,  having  effected  the  isolation  of  Ramses  and  a  portion  of 
his  troops,  now  enfolds  between  his  two  wings  the  camp  of  Ramses,  toward,  and 
of  course  past,  which  the  latter’s  fleeing  troops  have  retreated  (see  1.  25). 

cRamses  evidently  attacked  the  enemy’s  right  wing,  before  it  was  suflSciently 
strong  to  withstand  him,  and  drove  the  enemy  directly  eastward  into  the  river; 
see  Fig.  12. 

dCut  on  the  walls  of  Ramses  II’s  temples  at  Abydos,  Thebes  (three  times), 
Derr,  and  Abu  Simbel: 

I.  Abydos. — On  the  outside  of  the  north,  west,  and  south  walls;  nearly  the 
whole  has  perished,  and  the  remains  are  still  unpublished.  Short  inscriptions 


148 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[1 3*9 


Nubia,  and  doubtless  also  several  times  in  the  vanished 
temples  of  Lower  Egypt.  As  will  be  seen,  owing  to  the 
primitive  character  of  Egyptian  topographical  and  architec¬ 
tural  drawing,  these  scenes  cannot  be  made  to  coincide  with 
the  data  of  the  inscriptions,  but  they  furnish  invaluable  side 
lights  on  the  battle,  and  the  accompanying  inscriptions 
add  facts  of  the  greatest  importance. 

I.  THE  COUNCIL  OF  WAK“ 

329.  Ramses  sits  enthroned,  with  his  officers  before  him, 
in  consultation.  Below,  the  two  Hittite  scouts  are  being 
beaten,  to  force  them  to  disclose  the  location  of  the  enemy. 


(Mariette,  Abydos,  II,  10,  ii)  and  three  scenes  (Mariette,  Voyage  dans  la  haute 
Egypte,  PI.  30-32  and  p.  72). 

2.  Thebes. 

а)  RamesseuMf  first  pylon:  Lepsius,  Denktndlery  III,  153-55,  Cham- 

pollion,  Notices  descriptives,  870-72. 

б)  RamesseuMf  second  pylon:  Champollion,  Monuments^  328-30;  Champol- 
lion.  Notices  descriptives,  585-89,  873,  874;  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storiciy  109, 
110;  Lepsius,  III,  164,  165. 

c)  Luxor y  on  the  first  pylon:  Champollion,  MonumentSy  323,  324,  327-327  his 
(last  two  incorrectly  marked  Ramesseum);  Rosellini,  ibid.y  104-7;  Brugsch, 
Recueil  de  monumentSy  53  (inscriptions  only);  Descriptiony  AntiquitiSy  III,  3-fi. 
(None  at  Karnak,  as  stated  by  Guieysse,  Recueily  VIII,  126,  note  i.) 

d)  Karnaky  chiseled  out  in  antiquity:  Breasted,  Battle  of  Kadeshy  PI.  VIII, 
45»  46. 

3.  Derr. — Now  destroyed;  seen  by  Champollion  (Wiedemann,  Aegyptische 
Geschichtey  434,  note  5). 

4.  Abu  Simbel. — In  the  great  temple,  first  hall,  north  wall:  Champollion, 
MonumentSy  17  6W-33;  Champollion,  Notices  descriptiveSy  I,  64-66;  Rosellini, 
ibid.y  87-103;  Lepsius,  Denkmalevy  187,  c-e. 

The  inscriptions  from  all  these  reliefs  have  been  combined  (from  the  publica¬ 
tions)  by  Guieysse  (Recueily  VIII,  120-42)  in  a  handy  form  for  reference,  but  it 
is  not  reliable.  An  exhaustive  publication  of  the  combined  originals  is  very  much 
needed.  For  the  following  translations  I  arranged  my  own  combined  text,  placing 
all  the  publications  of  all  the  originals  in  parallel  columns.  These  are  published, 
in  so  far  as  they  concern  the  movements  of  the  armies,  in  my  Battle  of  Kadesh, 
All  the  reliefs  are  also  published  there,  PI.  I-VII. 

»i.  Ramesseum,  first  pylon:  Champollion,  I,  870;  Lepsius,  DenkmiUety  153. 

2.  Luxor:  Champollion,  MonumentSy  327  his;  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici, 
106;  Battle  of  Kadeshy  PI.  IV. 

3.  Abu  Simbel:  Champollion,  29;  Champollion,  iVa/icw 

tivesy  I,  66;  Jloscllini,  ibid.y  102;  Battle  of  Kadeshy  PI.  VI. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


149 


S331] 


The  whole  scene  is  evidently  located  in  the  tent  visible  as 
a  rectangle  in  the  center  of  the  camp  on  the  northwest  of 
Kadesh. 

Beating  Spies 

330.  'The  arrival  of  the  scout  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  bringing  the 
two  scouts  of  the  vanquished  chief  *of  Kheta  into  the  presence  of  Pharaoh, 
L.  P.  H.  They  are  beating  them,  to  make  them  tell  *where  the  wretched 
chief  of  Kheta  is. 

Over  Horses 

Great  first  span  of  his  majesty:  “Victory- in -Thebes,”  of  the  great 
stable :  “  Usermare-Setepnere-Beloved-of-Amon.” 

n.  THE  CAMP* 

331.  In  the  midst  of  a  rectangular  inclosure,  barricaded 

with  shields,  appears  the  royal  tent,’*  surrounded  by  the 
small  tents  of  the  officers  and  the  animated  life  of  the  camp, 
which  the  division,^'  that  of  Amon,  is  engaged  in 

arranging.  This  is  the  camp  north  or  northwest  of  Kadesh 
(Record,  1.  7;  Poem,  1.  21).  Within  the  royal  tent,  Ramses 
sits,  chiding  his  officers  for  their  neglect,  when  suddenly  the 
extreme  north  end  of  the  Hittite  right  wing  bursts  in  at  the 


^1.  Ramesseum:  Lepsius,  DenkmiUer,  III,  154,  155;  Prisse,  Histoire  de 
Vart  egyptien  (plates  unnumbered) ;  Battle  of  Kadeshy  PI.  I. 

2.  Luxor:  Champollion,  Monuments,  326,  327  (no  text);  Rosellini,  Monu- 
menti  Storici,  106,  107  (no  text);  Battle  of  Kadesh,  PI.  IV. 

3.  Abu  Simbel:  Champollion,  Monuments,  30.  31;  Champollion,  Notices 
descriptives,  I,  65,  66;  Rosellini,  ibid.,  98-99;  Battle  of  Kadesh,  PI.  VI. 

'^The  lion  behind  the  king*s  tent  is  his  personal  pet.  He  is  shown  at  Luxor 
fettered;  at  Abu  Simbel  (Champollion,  Monuments,  15)  with  the  Pharaoh  on  the 
march;  at  Bet-Walli  beside  the  Pharaoh’s  throne  (Champollion,  Monuments,  62); 
and  finally  at  Derr  in  two  scenes  (Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  183,  b,  and  184,  a), 
where  the  king  is  sacrificing  prisoners  to  Amon-Re.  In  these  last  scenes  he  is  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  inscription:  “  The  lion,  follower  of  his  majesty,  slayer  of  his  enemies  ** 
(cf.  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  90);  and  he  is  biting  one  of  the  prisoners. 
There  is  no  basis  in  all  this  for  the  current  statement  that  this  lion  accompanied 
his  master  in  the  battle,  where  (Champollion,  Monuments,  25,  and  Rosellini,  Monu- 
menti  Storici,  87)  a  lion  in  the  decoration  of  the  chariot  has  been  mistaken  for  the 
Pharaoh’s  pet  (see  Battle  of  Kadesh,  44,  45). 

cEvidently  so  called  because  of  its  position  in  the  line  of  march. 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§33* 


ISO 


eastern  end  of  the  barricade  (upper  right-hand  comer), 
driving  some  members  of  the  royal  household  before  them. 
These  hostile  intruders  are  quickly  dispatched  by  the  house¬ 
hold  troops  of  Ramses,  who  are  to  be  seen  on  foot  poniard¬ 
ing  them. 

Over  Prince  in  Chariot 

332.  »Fan-bearer  on  the  king’s  right  hand,  — ,  *king’s-scribe,  army 

commander  —  * - ^his  majesty  the  —  son  his  right  hand  — . 

Over  Official  in  Chariot 

"Arrival  of  *the  —  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  at - sthe  mother  of  the 

royal  children,  together  with  the  * —  of  the  divine  mother  * - 

fleeing  to  *the  west  [side]  of  the  »camp  * - ^  before  the  foe. 

At  Top 

The  first  division  of  Amon  (named) :  “  He-Gives-Victory-to-Usermare- 
Setepnere  (Ramses  II)-Given-Life,”  with  which  Pharaoh  is  engaged  in 
making  camp. 

III.  RAMSES’  MESSENGERS® 

333.  These  messengers  are  the  ones  sent  southward  by 
the  vizier  (Record,  §  324, 11.  18  and  19)  to  hasten  the  forces 
still  in  the  south  near  Shabtuna.  To  carry  such  a  message, 
they  must  either  make  a  wide  detour  westward,  to  go  around 
the  enemy’s  lines,  or  hazard  the  dangerous  passage  through 
them.  To  render  the  arrival  of  the  orders  more  certain, 
the  vizier  dispatches  a  horseman,  and  goes  himself**  in  a 
chariot.  Their  orders  seem  to  concern  only  the  division  of 


»i.  Luxor:  Champollion,  MonumentSy  323;  Rosellini,  MonutnerUi  Storiciy  106; 
Battle  of  Kadeshy  PI.  IV. 

2.  Abu  Simbel:  Champollion,  ihid,y  18;  Rosellini,  ibid.y  95;  Battle  of  Kadeshy 
PI.  VI. 

'^The  Luxor  relief  contains  a  fragment  of  inscription  showing  that  the  vizier 
himself  probably  went.  Among  the  approaching  reinforcements  hastening  up  in 
the  rear  of  the  Hittites  to  relieve  Ramses,  appear  the  words:  Arrival  of  the  vizier 
to  the  army  of  [his  majesty]**  (Champollion,  MonumentSy  324,  incorrectly 

numbered  314).  This  shows  that  the  vizier  got  through,  and  brought  up  the  rein¬ 
forcements  himself. 


$335] 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


iSi 


Ptah.  This  is  because  the  southern  half  of  the  division  of  Re 
was,  of  course,  aware  of  the  attack,  and  the  division  of 
Sutekh  was  evidently  too  far  away  for  Ramses  to  hope  to 
bring  them  up  in  time. 

Before  Horseman 

334.  *The  scout  of  the  army  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  “going  to  hasten 
the  division  of  Ptah,  ^saying:  “March  onl  ■♦Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  your 
lord,  ^stands - 

IV.  THE  BATTLE* 

33S-  We  here  see  the  city  of  Kadesh,  by  which  the  battle 
was  fought,  so  thoroughly  moated  that  it  seems  to  lie  in  the 
very  Orontes  itself,  rather  than  on  it.  The  four  drawings 
of  the  city  preserved  show  great  differences  among  them¬ 
selves;**  and  it  is  evident  that  no  clear  idea  of  the  relative 
positions  of  city  and  combatants  can  be  gained  from  them. ' 
We  must  remember  that,  according  to  the  inscriptions,  the 
Pharaoh  is  north  of  the  city.  It  would  seem  that  a  bend  in 
the  river  enables  him  to  charge  directly  toward  the  city,  viz., 
southward,  and  to  drive  the  enemy  into  the  river.  But  if 
the  side  of  the  Eg5^tian  drawing  where  the  Pharaoh  is,  is 
north,  then  it  represents  him  as  on  the  east  side  of  the  river. 
Or  again,  if,  as  the  texts  state,  he  should  be  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river  in  the  Egyptian  drawing,  then  the  drawing 
represents  him  as  south  of  the  city  and  charging  northward. 


*1.  Ramesseum,  first  pylon:  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  872; 
Lepsius,  Denktndler,  III,  15  7-61;  Battle  of  Kadesh,  PI.  TI. 

2.  Ramesseum,  second  pylon:  Champollion  Monuments,  328-30:  Champol¬ 
lion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  586-89,  873,  874;  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  109, 
no;  Lepsius,  Denkmiiler,  III,  164,  165;  Battle  of  Kadesh,  PL  III. 

3.  Luxor:  Champollion,  Monuments,  323,  324;  Rosellini,  ibid,,  104,  105; 
BaUle  of  Kadesh,  PL  V. 

4.  Abu  Simbel:  Champollion,  Monuments,  18-26;  Rosellini,  ibid.,  88-95; 
BaUk  of  Kadesh,  PL  VI. 

'’See  Muller’s  useful  comparison  of  the  four  {Asien  und  Europa,  214,  215). 
cl  have  discussed  the  value  of  the  reliefs  fully  in  my  BaUk  of  Kadesh,  40-46. 


152 _ NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [{335 

In  no  way  can  any  of  the  four  ancient  drawings  of  this  battle¬ 
field  be  made  to  coincide  with  the  data  of  the  inscriptions. 
This  is  not  remarkable  when  we  remember  that  they  do  not 
coincide  with  each  other.  In  these,  as  in  all  Eg5rptian 


Fig.  13. — ^The  Modern  Mound  of  Kadesh  (from  Koldewey) 

drawings,  each  part  is  drawn  largely  irrespective  of  its  rela¬ 
tions  to  any  of  the  other  parts.  We  can  here  gain  no  true 
conception  of  the  plan  of  the  battle.  Some  facts  stated  in 
the  inscriptions  may  be  clearly  seen  in  the  reliefs  however. 
We  observe  the  Hittite  chariotry  (above  and  below)  enfold¬ 
ing  Ramses  within  its  extended  wings.  We  see  also  how  he 


8337] 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


153 


drives  into  the  river  those  in  his  immediate  front,  including 
many  prominent  allies,  officials,  and  even  relatives  of  the 
Hittite  king.  The  king  of  Aleppo  is  held  head  downward 
by  his  soldiers  on  the  farther  shore,  that  he  may  disgorge 
the  water  which  he  has  swallowed.  Here  also  stands  the 
Hittite  king  with  8,000  foot,®  which  he  makes  no  effort  to 
bring  into  action.  The  inscriptions  are  these : 

Over  King^s  Horses  and  Chariot 

336.  *The  Good  God,  mighty  in  valor,  great  in  victory,  crushing 
*all  countries,  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Usermare-Setepnere ; 
Son  of  Re;  Ramses-Meriamon.  ^The  stand  which  his  majesty  made 
while  he  was  camping  on  the  north-west  of  Kadesh.  He  charged  into 
the  midst  of  the  foe  ^belonging  to  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta,  while 
he  was  alone  ^by  himself,  and  no  other  with  him.  ^He  found  sur¬ 
rounding  him  *2,500  horse  in  four  bodies  on  his  every  side.  ^He 
slau^tered  them,  making  ^°(them)  heaps  beneath  his  horses.  “He 
slei^,  ^*all  the  chiefs  of  all  the  countries,  *3 the  allies  of  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta,  together  with  his  own  great  chiefs,  ^-his  infantry  and  his 
chariotry.  He  overthrew  them  *5prostrate  upon  their  faces,  and  hurled 
them  down,  one  upon  another  into  the  waters  *^of  the  Orontes.  His 

majesty  was  behind  them  like  a  fierce-eyed  lion  ^7 -  in  their 

place.  Lo,  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta  **stood  extending  backward 
his  arms  in  praise  of  the  Good  God. 

Among  the  Fleeing  Enemy 

337.  Tergen  —  {Ty-r  ^-g^-n  — ). 

Tergenenes  (Ty-r^ -g^ -n-n^ -s^),  charioteer  of  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta. 

The  great  horse  of  his  majesty:  Victory-in-Thebes;”  of  the  great 
stable :  ‘ ‘  Usermare-Setepnere,-Beloved-of-Amon. ” 


»So  Ramesseum;  Abu  Simbel  has:  ** Other  warriors  {tw-hy-r^)  —  before  him, 
9,000.”  The  other"  is  to  distinguish  them  from  the  troops  in  battle.  Luxor 
has  merely:  *^[The  army]  of  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kadesh,  very  numerous  in  men 
and  horses."  As  the  2,500  Hittite  chariots  had  (three  men  each)  7,500  men,  we  get 
16,000,  to  17,000  men  as  the  total  Asiatic  force.  Ramses  will  possibly  have  had 
about  20,000,  and  thus  each  of  his  four  divisions  was  about  5,000  strong,  or  about 
equal  to  a  modern  army  division.  A  body  of  troops  mentioned  in  the  Anastasi 
Papyrus  No.  i,  as  belonging  to  Ramses  II,  contained  5,000  men,  all  foreign  mer¬ 
cenaries.  See  Battle  of  Kadesh,  9. 


154 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§338 


Kemeth  {K^  -my-P),  chief  of  the  Warriors  {Tw-hy-r^), 

- es  ( - charioteer  of  the  vanquished  chief  of 

Kheta. 

Tergetetethes  (Ty-r^  -iy-t-P  -s^)  chief  of  the  archers  of  the 
Thebes  (^bsw), 

Kherpesar  (J^y-r^  -p^  -r^)y  scribe  of  the  vanquished  chief  of 

Kheta. 

Egem  chief  of  the  archers  of  the  vanquished  chief  of 

Kheta. 

Teyeder  (Ty-y^ -dw-r^),  chief  of  the  bodyguard  of  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta. 

Peyes  (P^-y-5^),  charioteer  of  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta. 

Gerbetes  (G-r~b^  chariot-warrior  of  the  vanquished  chief 

of  Kheta. 

Semretes  (S  ^  -my-r  ^  4w~s  - . 

Peyes  (P^-y-s^),  charioteer  of  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta. 

Teder  (T^  -d^  -r^),  chief  of  the  warriors  (Tw-hy-r^), 

Methrem  {My-P  -ry-m^). 

Rebesnen  ~b^  •sw-n-n’^),  chief  of  the  archers  of  Enenes  pn- 

Septher  -P  brother  of  the  vanquished  chief  of 

Kheta. 

Thewethes  (T*  ^ -24;^ -P -5  ^),  chief  of  the  country  of  Tenes  (T^- 
ny-s  ^). 

Rebeyer  -b^  -yw-r). 

The  wretched  chief  of  Aleppo  {^y-r  ^  -b  turned  upside  down  by 
his  soldiers,  after  his  majesty  hurled  him  into  the  water. 

Warriors  (Tw-hy-r^),  who  are  in  front  of  the  ^commander**,  8,000. 

Town  of  Kadesh. 

By  the  King  of  Kheta 

338.  *The  vanquished,  wretched  chief  of  Kheta,  “standing  before 
his  infantry  and  chariotry  ^with  his  face  turned  round,  and  his  heart 
afraid.  ^He  went  not  forth  to  battle,  for  fear  of  his  majesty,  ^after  he 
saw  his  majesty  prevailing  [against  the  vanquished  chief]  ^of  Kheta 
and  all  the  chiefs  of  all  the  countries  ^[who]  were  with  him.  His  majesty 

- She  overthrew  them - .  ^[The  vanquished  chief  of 

Kheta]  said:  “He  is  like  *°Sutekh,  great  in  might;  Baal  is  “in  his 
limbs.” 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


1 341] 


iSS 


V.  THE  DEFENSE  OF  THE  CAMP* 

339*  While  Ramses  was  at  the  front  early  in  the  battle, 
his  camp  was  entered  by  the  Hittite  advance;  but  on  the 
arrival  of  the  ^‘recruits''  from  Amor,  the  latter  fell  upon 
these  spoilers  and  slaughtered  them. 

In  Front  of  Troops 

340.  *The  arrival  of  the  recruits  of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  from  the 
land  of  Amor  -m-w-r  ^),  They  found  that  the  force  of  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta  had  surrounded  the  *camp  of  his  majesty  on  its  western 
side.  His  majesty  had  been  camping  alone,  no  army  with  him,  fawait- 
ing  thei]  arrival  of  his  [rofficers^l  3and  his  army  and  the  division  with 
which  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  was,  had  not  finished  setting  up  the  camp. 
Now  the  division  ^of  Re  and  the  division  of  Ptah  were  on  the  march ; 
they  had  not  (yet)  arrived,  and  their  officers  were  in  the  rforest^  of  Bewey 
{B  ^  -w-y).  Then  the  recruits  ^cut  off  the  foe  belonging  to  the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta,  while  they  (the  foe)  were  entering  into  the  camp,  and 
Pharaoh’s  officers^  ^slew  them;  they  left  not  a  single  survivor  among 
them.  Their  hearts  were  filled  with  the  mighty  valor  of  Pharaoh, 
^their  good  lord;  he  was  behind  them  like  a  steward  of  — ,  like  a  wall 
of  iron,  forever  and  ever. 


VI.  AFTER  THE  BATTLE‘S 

341.  This  relief  shows  us  the  king  after  the  battle  is  over, 
enjoying  his  triumph.  As  he  stands  in  his  chariot,  his 
officers  throw  down  before  him  the  hands  of  the  slain,  cut 
off  as  trophies.  The  relief  on  the  Abydos  temple  (unpub¬ 
lished),  though  very  fragmentary,  contained  a  fuller  repre- 


»i.  Ramesseum:  L-epsius,  DenktnOler,  III,  155;  Battle  of  Kadeshy  PL  I. 

2.  Luxor:  Champollion,  327;  'Ros^\\iTiiy  MonumetUi  Storiciy  107; 

Battle  of  Kadeshy  PI.  IV. 

3.  Abu  Simbel:  Champollion,  ibid.y  32;  Rosellini,  ihid.y  97;  Lepsius,  ihid.y 
187;  Battle  of  Kadeshy  V\.  VI. 

^Sdm’ 

«i.  Abydos:  Mariette,  AhydoSy  II,  10,  ii. 

2.  Abu  Simbel:  Champollion,  MonumentSy  18;  Rosellini,  Monutnenti  Storici, 
95;  Battle  of  Kadeshy  PI.  VI. 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


156 


[§342 


sentation  of  Ramses’  triumph  than  the  meager  scene  at 
Abu  Simbel.  It  showed  the  king  receiving  the  prisoners, 
captured  according  to  the  accompanying  inscriptions,  by 
himself!  These  inscriptions^  are  as  follows: 

Ramses^  Ofjicers  Bringing  Captives  before  Him 

342.  Bringing  in  prisoners  before  his  majesty,  being  those  which 

[he]  brought  off  in  the  victory  of  his  sword  in  this  wretched  land  of 
Kheta,  when  his  majesty  caused  to  be  [^announced  to^  his  infantry  and 
his  chariotry,  saying:  these  are"^  the  prisoners  of  my  own 

capture,  while  I  was  alone,  no  infantry  being  with  me,  nor  any  prince 
with  me,  nor  any  chariotry.” 

Beside  a  Group  of  Prisoners 

343.  List  (skwy)  of  those  countries  which  his  majesty  slew,  while 
alone  by  himself :  Corpses,  horses,  and  chariots,  bows,  swords,  all  the 
weapons  of  warfare. 

Beside  Another  Group  of  Prisoners 

344.  Receiving  the  prisoners  which  his  majesty  brought  off,  in  the 
victory  of  his  sword  in  this  wretched  land  of  Kheta  and  this  wretched 
land  [of]  Naharin  {N-h-ry-n),  together  with  the  chiefs  of  all  countries 
who  came  with  the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta,  ^as  living  captives.^ 

Over  Fleeing  Chariots 

345.  Warriors  (Tw-hy-r-)  of  ^ - 1  the  chariots  of  the  camp  of 

the  vanquished  chief  of  Kheta. 

The  texts  at  Abu  Simbel  are  not  so  full;  they  are  the 
following: 

Behind  Chariot 

346.  *The  Good  God,  who  fought  for  his  army,  whose  sword 

repulsed  the  Nine  Bows;  king,  mighty  in  victory,  *who  hath  not  his 
like;  charging  into  the  multitudes  of  every  country,  making  them 
prostrate  bodies.  ^His  face  is  fierce-eyed  before  the  chief  of  Kheta, 
and  the  countries  of  Naharin  ^ - \ 


»Mariette,  AhydoSf  II,  10,  ii. 

^This  phrase  is  to  be  construed  with  **  brought  offP 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


§352] 


157 


Over  Horses 

347.  Great  first  span  of  his  majesty  (named):  “Mut-is-Satisfied,*^ 
of  the  great  stable:  “Usermare-Setepnere-Beloved-of-Amon/’ 

VII.  PRESENTATION  OF  CAPTIVES  TO  AMON® 

348.  As  his  father,  Seti  I,  is  seen  presenting  captives  and 
spoil  to  Amon,  on  the  north  wall  of  the  great  Karnak  hypo- 
style,  so  Ramses  appears  in  a  like  capacity  on  its  south  wall. 
Here  he  leads  and  presents  to  Amon,  Mut,  and  Khonsu, 
three  rows  of  prisoners,  accompanied  by  inscriptions^  which 
show  that  they  are  captives  taken  at  the  battle  of  Kadesh: 

349.  List  of  the  chiefs  of  Kheta,  which  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H., 

brought  as  living  captives  to  the  house  of  his  father,  Amon:  Derden 
{D-r^  -d~n-y),  Pedes  (Py-d-5^),  Kele[kesh]  (^y-r  ^ -[fey-P])  - . 

350.  These  are  followed  by  four  short  lines  of  prisoners, 
each  led  by  one  of  Ramses^  sons: 

a)  -  [behind  his  majesty,  by  the]  -  scribe,  com¬ 

mander  in  chief  of  the  army,  Amenhirkhepeshef, 

h)  - [behind]  his  majesty,  by  the  king^s-son,  Khamwese. 

- behind  his  majesty,  by  the  king^s-son,  Meriamon. 

^  - behind  his  majesty,  by  the  king^s-son,  Seti. 

351.  All  these  are  designated  as: 

Captives  from  the  northern  countries,  who  came  to  overthrow  his 
majesty,  whom  his  majesty  slew,  and  whose  subjects  he  brought  as 
living  captives,  to  fill  the  storehouse  of  his  father,  Amon. 

III.  PALESTINIAN  REVOLT 

352.  At  some  time  between  the  fifth  and  eighth  years  all 
Palestine,  doubtless  incited  by  the  Hittites,  revolted  against 


^Relief  on  the  exterior  of  the  south  wall  of  the  hypostyle  of  the  great  Amon- 
temple  at  Karnak;  published  by  Champollion,  Notices  descriptivesy  II,  122,  123: 
accompanying  inscription  also,  Brugsch,  Recueil  de  MonumenlSy  I,  PL  29. 

^Over  the  lowermost  of  the  three  rows.  The  inscriptions  of  the  other  two, 
as  well  as  the  figures  of  the  captives,  have  perished.  A  portion  of  the  middle  row 
is,  however,  still  visible. 

cit  is  supposed  that  Ramses  must  have  met  with  serious  reverses  between  the 
fifth  and  the  eighth  years,  for  the  Palestinian  princes  down  to  the  Shephclah  to 
have  dared  to  revolt. 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY;  RAMSES  II 


158 


[l3S3 


Ramses  II,  and  he  was  obliged  to  take  up  the  reconquest  of 
his  Asiatic  possessions,  at  his  very  door,  in  the  later  Philis¬ 
tine  country  with  the  siege  of  Askalon.* 

I.  RECONQTTEST  OF  SOUTHERN  PALESTINE’’ 

353.  A  relief  at  Kamak  represents  the  storming  of  the 
city  of  Askalon,  and  the  accompanying  inscription  refers  to 
its  rebellion.  Of  course,  Askalon  did  not  revolt  alone,  but 
must  have  been  in  league  with  the  other  cities  of  Palestine. 

354.  In  the  relief  we  see  the  king  in  his  chariot  charging 
the  bearded  defenders,  lined  up  outside  a  battlemented  city, 
which  is  located  on  an  elevation.  The  storming  ladders  are 
up,  and  an  Egyptian  officer  is  demolishing  the  city  gate  with 
an  ax,  while  the  inhabitants  appear  on  the  walls,  beseeching 
mercy.  By  the  city  is  the  following  inscription: 

355.  The  wretched  city  (dmy),  which  his  majesty  captured,  when  it 
rebelled,  Askalon  (’ ’).  It  (the  city)  says:  “It  is  joy  to  be 
subject  to  thee,  and  delight  to  cross  thy  boundaries.  Take  thou 
the  heritage,  that  we  may  speak  of  thy  valor  in  all  unknown 
countries.” 

Over  the  king’s  horses  appears  the  usual  glorification  of 
his  valor. 


n.  RECONQUEST  OF  NORTHERN  PALESTINE 

356.  By  the  eighth  year  Ramses  has  reached  northern 
Palestine  again,  and  captures  the  cities  of  western  Galilee. 


•The  place  of  this  siege  in  Ramses  II’s  wars  is  uncertain;  but  as  western 
Galilee  revolted  in  his  eighth  year,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  revolt  of  Askalon  is 
to  be  connected  with  that  of  west  Galilee.  Indeed,  one  name  in  the  list  of  the 
eighth  year  may  be  Askalon  (Champollion,  Notices  descriptiveSy  II,  871,  I,  No.  2 

I - 1  r-n^).  The  date  “IXth  year”  (Maspero,  Struggle  of  the  NationSy  400) 

for  the  capture  of  Askalon  is  without  any  documentary  support. 

^Relief  and  inscription  on  the  exterior  of  the  south  wall  of  the  great  hypostyle 
hall  at  Karnak;  Champollion,  Notices  descriptiveSy  II,  195 —Lepsius,  DenkmiUer, 
III,  145, 


$357] 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


159 

The  only  document  is  a  list®  showing  rows  of  battlemented 
cities  from  which  Eg)rptian  officers  drive  prisoners.  Each 
city  bears  an  inscription  beginning:  "City  which  his  majesty 
plwndered  in  the  year  8;’'  after  which  appears  the  name  of 
a  city.'’  Only  a  few  of  these  names  have  survived,  among 
which  are:  a  “city  on  the  mount  0}  Bethanath  (B ’  -y-ty- '  - 
n-ty),”  named  Kerpet  -r^ Merem  (M^- 
r^-m,  Hebrew,  Mar6m  “Height”);  and  Sherem  (S^-r^-m, 
Hebrew,  Sal6m,  “Greeting”).  The  only  place  not  in  the 
west  Galilean  region  is  a  city  “in  the  land  of  Amor  ( ^  -m-w-r'^), 
Deper  (D  ^  -pw-r  ’),”  which  carries  us  over  to  the  region  of 
Tabor.'  The  capture  of  this  city  has  been  depicted  with 
great  spirit  and  much  detail  in  a  splendid  relief  at  the  Rames- 
seum.**  It  shows  Ramses’  sons*  playing  a  prominent  part 
in  the  battle. 

357.  The  accompanying  inscriptions  unfortunately  con¬ 
tain  almost  exclusively  the  conventional  praise  of  the  king’s 
valor.  They  disclose,  however,  the  important  fact  that  the 

®On  the  west  side  of  the  northern  tower  of  the  first  pylon  of  the  Ramesseum; 
Champollion,  Notices  descriptiveSf  I,  870,  871;  Burton,  Excerpta  hieroglyphica, 
16;  Lepsius,  Denkmdlerj  III,  156,  and  Text,  III,  127,  128.  Another  series  of 
cities,  on  the  outside  of  the  south  wall  of  the  great  hypostyle  at  Karnak,  evidently 
bore  inscriptions  of  the  same  form,  though  none  is  now  complete;  see  Lepsius, 
Denkmdler,  Text,  III,  20,  and  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  II,  120. 

^There  were  originally  at  least  eighteen,  and  possibly  twenty-four  of  these 
cities.  They  have  been  studied  best  by  Muller  {Asien  und  Europa,  220-22),  who 
is  followed  above. 

cBut  see  Mtiller  {Asien  und  Europa,  221),  who  places  it  farther  north.  It 
seems  to  me  that  its  place  in  this  list  is  a  good  argument  for  a  position  farther 
south. 

^Description^  II,  31 —Champollion,  Monuments^  331  —  Rosellini,  Monumenti 
Storicif  108  — Lepsius,  Denkntdler,  III,  i66=Mariette,  Voyage  dans  la  haute 
Egypte^  II,  59  — Prisse,  Histoire  de  Vart  —  Meyer,  GeschichtCf  290  (colored). 

Long  inscription  also  Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments y  54,  i,  and  the  first  five  lines 
also,  Sharpe,  Egyptian  InscriptionSy  II,  51. 

«On  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  coming  forth  with  their  children  and  household 
goods,  compare  the  great  tablet  in  front  of  the  Abu  Simbel  temple  (Lepsius,  Denk- 
miUefy  III,  19s,  a,  11.  ii  f.):  **  their  gifts  are  of  the  varieties  of  the  products  of  their 
landsy  their  soldiers  and  their  children  are  before  thenty  to  crave  peace  from  his  majesty.** 


i6o  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [§358 

Hittites  have  pushed  southward  since  the  battle  of  Kadesh 
and  temporarily  occupied  the  Tabor  region,  from  which 
Ramses  now  ejects  them  (11.  11-13).  This  is  the  extreme 
southern  limit  of  the  Hittite  advance,  and  was,  of  course, 
purely  transitory,  as  their  remains  are  not  found  south  of 
Hamath.  This  extreme  advance  is  undoubtedly  to  be  con¬ 
nected  with  the  revolt  in  Palestine. 

358.  It  was  perhaps  at  this  time  that  the  northern  trans- 
Jordan  region,  the  Hauran,  again ^  came  under  the  control 
of  Ramses,  and  some  official  erected  a  memorial  relief'"  of 
him  there,  representing  him  offering  to  one  of  the  local  gods, 
with  possibly  a  Semitic  name. 

The  Deper  scene,  which  is  our  longest  document  on  this 
period,  contains  the  following  inscriptions: 

359.  *Said  the  vanquished  of  Kheta  in  praising  the  Good  God: 
‘‘Give  to  us  the  breath  that  thou  givest,  O  good  ruler.  Lo,  we  are 
under  thy  sandals;  thy  terror,  *it  has  penetrated  the  land  of  Kheta. 
Its  chief  3is  fallen,  because  of  thy  fame;  we  are  like  herds  ^of  horses, 
when  the  fierce-eyed  lion  sattacks  them.” 

360.  ^The  Good  God,  mighty  in  valor  in  the  countries,  stout-hearted 
7in  the  array,  firm  on  the  steed,  ^beautiful  in  the  chariot,  when  he  has 
taken  the  bow,  shooting,  ’(or)  fighting  hand  to  hand,  —  firm,  whom 

none  escapes, - taking  the  rbeautifuH  corselet  - in  the 

array,  and  returning  when  he  has  triumphed  over  ”the  vanquished 
chief  of  Kheta.  When  he  overthrew  him,  he  scattered  him  like  “straw 
before  the  wind,  (so  that)  he  forsook  his  city,  *3for  fear  of  him.  He 
(Ramses)  set  his  fame  therein  for  every  day.  His  might  was  in  his 
limbs  *4like  fire;  a  bull  fighting  upon  his  boundary,  seizing  *5upon  the 
things  Twhich  he  has  captured^,  a  survivor  of  his  hand  he  has  not  left. 
^^He  is  a  tempest  in  the  countries,  great  in  tumult;  bringing  ^’the  storm- 
cloud  against  the  chiefs,  to  desolate  their  cities,  making  all  their  places 

^This  region  of  course  revolted  with  the  rest  of  Palestine. 

^Known  as  the  “Job-stone;”  discovered  by  Schumacher  {Zeitschrift  des 
DetUschen  Palastina-VereinSf^Wj  142  ff.)  at  the  modern  village  of  Sa «  dlyeh,  east 
of  the  Lake  of  Genesaret.  It  was  published  by  Erman  (tWd.,  XV,  205-11). 


§364]  THE  ASIATIC  WAR  161 

*®into  desert  regions.  His  arrows  are  behind  them  like  Sekhmet  ^^when 

the  wind  seizes  ® - the  wretched  land  *®of  Kheta,  which  is  his 

enemy.  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Usermare-Setepnere,  **Son 
of  Re,  Ramses-Meriamon. 

Over  Horses^  Heads  and  again  over  Their  Backs 

361.  Great  first  span  of  his  majesty  (named):  “Meriamon,”  of 
the  great  stable  of  Ramses-Meriamon. 

Six  Princes^  Beginning  at  Left 

362.  I.  King’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Khamwese. 

2.  King’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Montu  — . 

3.  King’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Meriamon. 

4.  King’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Amenemuya. 

5.  King’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Seti. 

6.  King’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Setepnere. 

In  City 

- [DJeper  [D]  ^  -pw-rw), 

IV.  CAMPAIGN  IN  NAHARIN 

363.  Having  thus,  in  the  Palestinian  war,  recovered  Pales¬ 
tine,  Ramses  again  pushed  northward  and  advanced  into 
Naharin.'^ 

I.  CONQUEST  OF  NAHARIN 

364.  In  a  fragment ""  at  the  Ramesseum  we  find  him 
fighting  at  Tunip.  He  has,  it  would  seem,  already  held 
this  important  city  of  the  north,  and  had  set  up  in  it  a  statue 
of  himself.  The  city  had  then  revolted,  and  Ramses  is 
now  recapturing  it.  The  inscription  evidently  narrated 
some  personal  exploit  cf  Ramses  without  his  coat  of  mail. 


^^Or:  *Uaking  the  breath - .”  Bnigsch  shows  some  impossible  words 

in  this  lacuna. 

^Although  this  campaign  in  Naharin  is  not  dated,  it  is  impossible  to  place  it 
between  the  battle  of  Kadesh  (year  5)  and  the  recovery  of  Galilee  (year  8).  It 
can  only  have  followed  the  campaign  of  year  8. 

cChampollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  888;  Bnigsch,  Recueil  de  monuments^ 
II,  54,  2;  Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions,  II,  51. 


i62 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§365 


365.  ^ELing  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Usermare-Setepnere,  Son 
of  Re:  Ramses-Meriamon,  given  life.  The  king  himself,  he  says: 
‘T  swear  as  Re  loves  me,  as  my  father  Atum  favors  me,  as  my  nostrils 

are  rejuvenated  with  satisfying  life  * - the  ^palace^.”  As  for  this 

^overthrow!,  they  stood  fighting  the  city  of  Kheta,  wherein  the  statue 

of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  was.  His  majesty  made  it  3 - his 

infantry  and  his  chariotry.  His  majesty  was  at  the  front  of  his  infantry 

and  his  chariotry  ^ - the  vanquished  of  Kheta,  who  were  in  the 

districts  of  the  city  of  Tunip  (Tw-n-p)  in  the  land  of  N[aharin].  His 

majesty  took  his  coat  of  mail  5 - twice.  *  He  stood  fighting  the 

city  of  the  vanquished  of  Kheta,  at  the  front  of  his  infantry  and  his 

^chariotry] - fnot  having^  his]  coat  of  mail  upon  him.  [His] 

majesty  came  to  take  his  coat  of  mail  again.  It  was  placed  upon  him, 

when  7 - [the  vanquished]  of  Kheta,  who  were  in  the  districts  of 

the  city  of  Tunip  (Tw-n-p)  in  the  land  of  Naharin  (N-h-r-n),  while 
his  coat  of  mail  was  not  upon  [him]. 

366.  In  harmony  with  this  fragment,  we  find  that  the 
lists^  of  cities  and  countries,  which  Ramses  claims  to  have 
conquered,  mention  Naharin,  Lower  Retenu,  Arvad,  Keftyew, 
and  Ketne""  in  the  Orontes  valley.  The  fact  that  these 
northern  regions  had  to  some  extent  already  been  under 
Ramses^  control  indicates  long  and  arduous  campaigning 
against  the  Hittites.  The  revolt  of  these  regions,  evident 
from  the  Ramesseum  fragment  just  translated,  was  there¬ 
fore  undoubtedly  late  in  the  Asiatic  war,  and  probably  had 
something  to  do  with  Ramses’  willingness  to  make  peace, 
later  sealed  by  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  the  Hittites  in  the 
year  21,  seventeen  years  after  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

*The  date  “year  12”  usually  read  here  is  impossible;  it  is  not  supported  by 
any  of  the  three  copies. 

^^On  a  colossus  at  Kamak  (Mariette,  Karnak,  38)  and  another  at  Abydos 
(Mariette,  Abydos,  II,  2).  The  list  on  the  north  wall  of  Karnak  (Champollion, 
Notices  descripiives,  II,  119;  Brugsch,  Geographische  Inschrijten,  II,  75;  Lepsius, 
Denkm&ler,  III,  144)  attributed  by  Muller  to  Ramses  II,  I  have  credited  to  Seti  I 
(p.  57,  n.  b).  See  also  Daressy,  Recueil,  XX,  119. 

cThe  mention  of  Shinar  (Babylonia),  Assur,  Cyprus,  and  the  like,  can,  of 
course,  only  mean  the  receipt  of  gifts  from  the  kings  of  those  countries,  as  under 
Thutmose  III,  who  controlled  none  of  them  but  probably  Cyprus. 


5368] 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


163 


n.  TREATY  WITH  THE  HITTITES® 

367.  After  possibly  fifteen  years  of  warfare  in  S)n:ia, 
Ramses  II  consents  to  a  peace  with  the  Hittites.  This 
peace  is  sealed  in  a  treaty  of  alliance  which  forms  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  documents  which  have  survived  from 
ancient  Eg5^t.  The  copy  preserved  to  us  is  clearly  a  trans¬ 
lation  from  an  original  in  a  foreign  language, and  in  his 
rendering  the  Egyptian  translator  has  not  always  succeeded 
too  well. 

368.  For  recording  upon  the  temple  walls,  the  royal 
scribe  has  prefixed:  (i)  the  date  (1.  i);  (2)  the  account  of 
the  arrival  of  two  Hittite  messengers  with  the  treaty  on  a 
silver  tablet;  and  (3)  the  heading  of  the  copy  as  preserved 
in  the  royal  archives.  In  content  the  treaty  which  follows 
is  clear  and  well  arranged.  After  a  title  or  caption,  it  pro¬ 
ceeds  with  the  following  eighteen  paragraphs: 

I.  Review  of  the  former  relations  of  the  two  countries, 
the  immemorial  peace  of  earlier  times,  and  the  later 
war. 


‘There  are  two  originals:  (i)  At  Karnak  on  wall  extending  south  of  the  great 
hypostyle,  published  by  Champollion,  Notices  descripiives,  II,  195-204  (only  30 
lines);  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  116;  Burton,  Excerpta  hieroglyphicaj  17  (not 
used);  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  146;  Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments^  I,  28  (11. 
i~2o) ;  Bouriant,  Recueil,  XIII,  1 53-60;  collation  of  the  geographical  names  by  Sayce, 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archeology,  XXI,  194  ff.;  Muller,  V  order  a- 
siatische  Gesellschaft,  VII,  5,  Taf.  I-XVI;  I  had  also  photographs  by  Borchardt. 
(2)  At  the  Ramesseum;  only  fragments  of  the  last  10  lines;  Champollion,  Notices 
descriptives,  I,  585,  586;  Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions,  II,  50;  Bouriant,  Recueil, 
XIV,  67-70.  In  spite  of  the  mutilated  condition  of  the  two  monuments,  the  fre¬ 
quent  repetitions  make  restoration  certain  in  almost  all  cases.  Muller’s  edition  is 
the  only  one  which  is  done  with  care  and  accuracy;  a  number  of  readings  may  be 
added  to  Miiller’s  text  from  Sharpe’s  copy,  which  seems  to  have  escaped  him. 
The  following  translation  was  already  in  my  manuscript  when  Muller’s  publication 
appeared.  His  text  added  a  few  new  readings,  but  otherwise  the  translation 
remains  unchanged. 

'^In  view  of  Amarna  Letter  No.  35,  from  the  Hittite  king,  Seplel  (see  Knudt- 
zon,  Zeitschrift  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  35,  141  f.),  in  Babylonian  writing  and 
language,  the  original  of  this  treaty  may  have  been  in  the  same  form. 


i64 _ NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [{368 

2.  Formal  declaration  of  the  new  peace  pact,  which  is 
made  binding  upon  future  generations.® 

3.  Mutual  resignation  of  all  projects  for  further  con¬ 
quest  in  Syria,  but  without  any  statement  of  the  boundary 
adopted. 

4.  Reaffirmation  of  the  former  treaty  of  the  time  of 
Khetasar’s  grandfather,  Seplel,**  which  had  continued  till 
interrupted  by  the  war  with  Khetasar’s  brother,  Metella; 
but  with  no  restatement  of  its  articles. 

5.  Egypt  makes  a  defensive  alliance  with  Kheta,  depend¬ 
ing  upon  the  latter’s  assistance  against  all  foreign  foes. 

6.  Egypt  is  to  enjoy  the  co-operation  of  Kheta  in  the 
chastisement  of  rebellious  Swian  (?)  subjects. 

7.  Analogous  to  5,  in  Kheta’s  favor. 

8.  Analogous  to  6,  in  Kheta’s  favor. 

9.  Extradition  of  Eg3q)t’s  political  fugitives  to  Kheta. 

10.  Extradition  of  emigrants  from  Egypt  to  Kheta. 

11.  Extradition  of  Kheta’s  political  fugitives  to  Egypt. 

12.  Extradition  of  emigrants  from  Kheta  to  Eg)q)t. 

13.  The  witness  of  the  gods  of  Kheta  and  Egypt. 

14.  Curse  on  the  violator  of  the  treaty. 

15.  Blessing  on  the  observer  of  the  treaty.® 

16.  Appendix  exacting  humane  treatment  of  persons 


*It  was  kept  by  them  in  fact,  as  is  shown  by  the  relations  of  Memeptah  with 
Kheta  (§  580,  1.  24). 

'’Knudtzon  {Zeitschrift  fUr  dgypHsche  Sprache,  35,  141  f.)  has  found  in  the 
Amarna  collection  a  cuneiform  letter  (No.  35)  from  this  king  (called  Su-ub-bi-lu- 
luu’tna)  to  a  king  of  Egypt,  called  Khuri[ya],  who,  from  the  content  of  the  letter, 
is  certainly  Napkhurlya,  the  cuneiform  for  Neferkheprure  (Amenhotep  IV).  Seplel 
desires,  in  this  letter,  to  continue  with  the  Pharaoh  the  friendly  relations  hitherto 
existing  between  himself  (S.)  and  the  Pharaoh’s  father,  who  has  just  died.  This 
is  clearly  Amenhotep  III,  to  whom  we  may  therefore  carry  back  the  first  treaty 
between  Egypt  and  Kheta.  But  the  Amarna  letters  show  how  badly  the  Hittites 
observed  the  treaty.  On  the  chronological  difl&culty,  see  p.  167,  n.  c. 

cThese  two  paragraphs  form  a  frequent  conclusion  of  documents  intended  to 
be  valid  in  perpetuity,  and  they  mark  the  logical  conclusion  here. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


S371] 


16s 


extradited  from  ICheta,  who  are  to  suffer  no  injury  in  person, 
family,  or  property. 

17.  The  same  regarding  those  extradited  from  Egypt. 

18.  This  final  paragraph  belongs  only  to  the  copy,  and 
not  to  the  treaty.  It  describes  the  figures  and  seals  on  the 
silver  tablet,  and  records  the  words  accompanying  these 
seals. 

369-  Space  does  not  permit  further  discussion  of  this 
remarkable  document,*  but  it  will  be  evident  that,  not¬ 
withstanding  Ramses’  conquest  of  such  northern  cities  as 
Tunip  in  Naharin  (§§344  f.),  he  never  succeeded  in  breaking 
the  power  of  the  Hittites.  Evidently  his  complete  success  in 
stopping  the  further  southward  advance  of  so  powerful  an 
invader  was  no  small  reason  for  congratulation. 

Date 

370.  *Year  21,  first  month  of  the  second  season,  twenty-first  day, 
under  the  majesty  of  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Usermare- 
Setepnere,  Son  of  Re:  Ramses-Meriamon,  given  life,  forever  and  ever, 
beloved  of  Amon-Re-Harakhte,  Ptah-South-of-His-Wall,  lord  of  “Life- 
of-the-Two-Lands,”  Mut,  mistress  of  Ishni,  and  Khonsu-Neferhotep; 
shining  upon  the  Horus-throne  of  the  living,  like  his  father,  Harakhte, 
forever  and  ever. 


Arrival  of  the  Hittite  Messengers 

371.  *On  this  day,  lo,  his  majesty  was  at  the  city  (called):  “House- 
of-Ramses-Meriamon,”  performing  the  pleasing  ceremonies  of  his 
father,  Amor-Re-Harakhte-Atum,  lord  of  the  Two  Lands  of  Heliopolis; 
Amon^  of  Ramses-Meriamon,  Ptah'^  of  Ramses-Meriamon,  “ —  great  in 
strength,  son  of  Mut,''  according  as  they  gave  to  him  eternity  in  jubilees, 
everlastingness  in  peaceful  years,  all  lands,  and  all  countries  being  pros¬ 
trate  beneath  his  sandals  forever.  ^There  came  the  king’s-messenger. 


»See  discussion  of  special  points  by  W.  M.  Miiller  (V order asiatische  Gesell' 
schafiy  VII,  215-40). 

'^Forms  of  Amon  and  Ptah,  worshiped  in  Ramses*  temple  at  Tanis. 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§372 


166 


the  deputy  and  butler  — together  with  the  king’s-messenger  — ® 
[n^ringing*  to  the  king]  Ramses  II  fthe  messenger^  of  [Kheta*,Ter]teseb 
and  the  ^second  messenger*  of  Kheta  ['^earing*  a  silver  tablet^]  ^which 
the  great  chief  of  the  Kheta,  Khetasar  [caused]^  to  be 

brought  to  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  to  crave  peace  [frojm  [the  majesty]  of 
the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Ramses  II, given  life,  forever 
and  ever,  like  his  father,  Re,  every  day. 

Heading  0}  the  Copy 

372.  Copy  of  the  silver  tablet,  which  the  great  chief  of  Kheta, 

Khetasar  caused  to  be  brought  to  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  by 

the  hand  of  his  messenger,  sTerteseb  (T^-r^-ty-S-bw),  and  his  messen¬ 
ger,  Ramose,  to  crave  peace  from  the  majesty  of  Ramses  II,  the  Bull 
of  rulers,  making  his  boundary  as  far  as  he  desires  in  every  land. 

Caption  of  the  Treaty 

373.  The  treaty  which  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  Khetasar,  the 

valiant,  the  son  of  Merasar  (M-r  ^  ^  -r  ^),  ‘^the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  the 

valiant,  the  grandson^  of  Seplel  -p'^  -[rw-rw^,  [the  great  chief  of 
Kheta,  the  val]iant,  made,  upon  a  silver  tablet  for  Usermare-Setepnere 
(Ramses  II),  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  the  valiant,  the  son  of  Menmare 
(Seti  I),  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  the  valiant,  the  grandson  of  Menpeh- 
tire  (Ramses  I),  ^the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  the  valiant;  the  good  treaty 
of  peace  and  of  brotherhood,  setting  peace  [^between  them®!],  forever. 


aThe  names  of  two  Egyptian  envoys  have  here  disappeared.  Whence  they 
came  is  not  clear.  They  may  have  gone  out  to  meet  the  two  Hittite  envoys  a  day's 
journey  or  two;  or  they  may  have  been  the  Egyptian  commissioners  who  had 
negotiated  the  treaty  at  the  court  of  Kheta. 

^The  restoration  is  based  on  1.  4,  where  we  have  a  verbatim  repetition  of  this 
connection. 

cDouble  name. 

^There  is  no  word  for  “grandson”  in  Egyptian;  text  has  son  of  the  son.** 
«The  loss  is  greater  than  this  by  several  words.  In  view  of  the  preceding 
words  setting  peace**)  and  similar  phrases  frequent  in  the  treaty  (e.  g.,  11.  9,  10), 
it  seems  to  me  that  Miiller  {V orderasiatische  Gesellschaft,  VII,  215-21)  overem¬ 
phasizes  the  alliance  side  of  the  document.  It  is  not  only  a  treaty  of  alliance, 
but  also  a  treaty  of  peace,  and  the  war  evidently  continued  until  the  negotiations 
for  the  treaty  began,  which  could  hardly  have  been  earlier  than  a  year  before  the 
date  of  the  arrival  of  the  messengers  in  Egypt.  They  reached  Egypt  in  late  winter 
or  early  spring  (twenty-first  of  Tybi),  somewhere  around  the  &st  of  February; 
and  the  preceding  summer  may  have  seen  the  last  of  the  hostilities.  The  treaty 
distinctly  states  (11.  8,  9)  that  it  marks  the  beginning  of  a  relation  designed  by  the 
gods  to  conclude  hostilities  between  the  two  nations. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


§37S] 


167 


Former  Relations  of  the  Two  Countries 

374.  I.  Now,  at  the  beginning,  since  eternity,  the  relations  of  the 
great  ruler  of  Egypt  with  the  great  chief  of  Kheta  were  (such)  that  the  god 
prevented  hostilities  between  them,  by  treaty.  Whereas,  in  *the  time 
of  Metella  {Mw-t-n-r  ^),  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  my  brother,  he  fought 
w[ith  Ramses  II],®  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  yet  afterward,  beginning 
with  this  day,  behold,  Khetasar,  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  is  [in]  a  treaty- 
relation  for  establishing  the  relations  which  the  Re  made,  and  which 
Sutekh  made,^  for  the  land  of  Egypt,  <>with  the  land  of  Kheta,  in  order 
not  to  permit  hostilities  to  arise  between  them,  forever. 

The  New  Peace  Pact 

375.  2.  Behold  then,  Khetasar,  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  is  in  treaty 
relation  with  Usermare-Setepnere  (Ramses  II),  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt, 
beginning  with  this  day,  in  order  to  bring  about  good  peace  and  good 
brotherhood  between  us  forever,  *®while  he  is  in  brotherhood  with  me, 
he  is  in  peace  with  me;  and  I  am  in  brotherhood  with  him,  and  I  am 
in  peace  with  him,  forever.  Since  Metella  {Mw-t-n~r  ^),  the  great  chief 
of  Kheta,  my  brother,  succumbed  to  his  fate,®  and  Khetasar  sat  as 


*A  cartouche  is  visible. 

^Rc  and  Sutekh  are  here  the  gods  of  Egypt  and  Kheta  respectively. 

cLit.,  departed  {hnn)  after  his  fate;”  this,  of  course,  indicates  his  death. 
The  succession  of  his  brother  justifies  the  suspicion  that  his  death  was  due  to  his 
brother;  but  this  is  not  certain.  Furthermore,  this  death  of  Metella  is  clearly 
the  occasion  of  the  peace,  and  not  the  occasion  of  the  war  with  Ramses  II,  as  often 
stated  (Maspero,  Struggle  of  the  Nations,  389).  Thus  the  opponent  of  Ramses  II 
was  Metella  (1.  8),  and  Khetasar  hastens  to  make  peace  soon  after  his  accession 
(1.  10).  We  may  roughly  reconstruct  thus: 

Amenhotep  III,  end  of  reign 
Ikhnaton 

Ikhnaton’s  ephemeral  successors 
Harmhab 
Ramses  I 
Seti  I 

Ramses  II  to  about  year  20  /  }.  brothers 

Ramses  II  from  year  20  on 

The  three  generations  of  Hittite  kings  ruled  accordingly  over  no  years — over 
37  years  each — an  exceptionally  high  average  for  three  successive  kings  in  the 
orient.  This  would  indicate  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  identity  of  Scplel  and 
Subbiluliuma  of  Amarna  Letter  No.  35,  which  carries  him  back  to  Amenhotep  III 
(see  note,  p.  164).  He  may  therefore  possibly  be  no  earlier  than  Harmhab,  and, 
as  Muller  has  suggested  {pp.  cit.,  226),  the  Amarna  letter  may  be  from  an  earlier 
Seplel. 


Seplel,  father  of 

>  Merasar,  father  of 

I  Metella 
Khetasar 


i68 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§376 


“great  chief  of  Kheta  upon  the  throne  of  his  father,  behold,  I  am 
together  with  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  and  he  is 
[Jwith*  me  ini]  our  peace  and  our  brotherhood.  It  is  better  than  the 
former  peace  and  brotherhood  which  were  in  the  land.  Behold,  I, 
even  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  am  with  “[Ramses  II],  the  great  ruler  of 
Egypt,  in  good  peace  and  in  good  brotherhood.  The  children  of  the 
children  of  the  great  chief  of  Kheta  shall  be  in  brotherhood  and  peace 
with  the  children  of  the  children  of  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler 
of  Egypt,  being  in  our  relations  of  brotherhood  and  our  relations  *3[of 
peace],  that  the  [land  of  Egypt]  may  be  with  the  land  of  Kheta  in  peace 
and  brotherhood  like  ourselves,  forever. 

Mutual  Renunciation  of  Further  Conquests 

376.  3.  There  shall  be  no  hostilities  between  them,  forever.  The 
great  chief  of  Kheta  shall  not  pass  over  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  forever, 
to  take  anything  therefrom.  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt, 
shall  not  pass  over  into  the  land  “[of  Kheta,  to  take  anything]  therefrom, 
forever. 


Reaffirmation  of  the  Former  Treaties 

377.  4.  As  for  the  former^  treaty  which  was  in  the  time  of  Seplel 
(S^  -rw-rw)f  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  likewise  the  former^  treaty 
which  was  in  the  time  of  Metella  {Mw-Un-r'^),  the  great  chief  of  Kheta, 
my  father,®  I  will  hold  to  it.  Behold,  Ramses-Meriamon.  the  great 


»So  Miiller,  but  he  does  not  give  room  for  “  with.** 

'This  word  (m/y)  has  not  been  hitherto  understood  in  this  connection;  there 
is  no  doubt  about  its  meaning,  ** customary t  usual,  habitual,**  and  then  former.** 
Compare  Am^da  Stela  (II,  798),  where  a  new  four-day  list  of  offerings  is  established 
for  Anuket  “as  an  increase  upon  the  J  days  of  her  customary  {mty)  feast;**  or  II, 
619;  after  new  offerings  are  presented,  the  old  ones  are  to  be  offered  according 
to  the  measure  of  the  customary  {mtt)  offering  which  is  in  this  temple;**  after  a  feast 
a  god  returns  to  his  ** customary  {mt{t))  seat**  {Recueil,  16,  56, 1.  6,  above). 

Father**  is  either  used  here  as  in  Egypt,  where  any  predecessor  on  the 
throne  is  called  ** father;**  or  the  name  ** Metella**  is  an  error  for  Merasar,  who 
was  certainly  the  father  of  Metella  and  Khetasar.  Now,  as  Khetasar  has  already 
(11.  7,  8)  referred  to  the  ancient  peace  as  continuing  down  to,  but  broken  under, 
Metella,  a  new  treaty  under  Metella  above  mentioned  (1.  14)  is  surprising.  He 
may  be  marking  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  same  treaty:  beginning  under  Seplel 
and  ending,  because  broken,  under  Metella.  The  Pharaoh  with  whom  Metella’s 
treaty  was  maintained  can  hardly  be  any  other  than  Seti  I.  (See  ^Ht,**  11.  14,  15.) 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


1 380] 


169 


ruler  of  Eg)rpt,  will  hold  ^5[to  it]  with  us  *'together^,  beginning  with  this 
day.  We  will  hold  to  it,  and  we  will  deal  in  this  former  manner.* 

Egypt^s  Defensive  Alliance  with  Kheta 

378.  5-  If  another  enemy  come  against  the  lands  of  Usermare-Setep- 
nere  (Ramses  II),  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  and  he  shall  send  to  the  great 
chief  of  Kheta,  saying:  “Come  with  me  as  reinforcement  against  him,” 
the  great  chief  of  Kheta  shall  *^come],  and  the  great  chief  of  Kheta 
shall  slay  his  enemy.  But  if  it  be  not  the  desire  of  the  great  chief  of 
Kheta  to  come,  he  shall  send  his  infantry  and  his  chariotry,  and  shall 
slay  his  enemy. 

Chastisement  of  Syrian  Subjects 

379.  6.  Or  if  Ramses-Meriamon,  *7[the  great  ruler  of  Egypt],  be 

provoked  against  ^delinquents  subjects,^  when  they  have  committed  some 
other  fault  against  him,  and  he  come  to  slay  them,  then  the  great  chief 
of  Kheta  shall  act  with  the  lord  of  Egypt  r - s. 

Kheta^s  Defensive  Alliance  with  Egypt 

380.  7.  If  another  en[emy  come]  against  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  [and 
he  shall  send]  to  the  great  chief  (sic!)  [of  Egypt],  Usermare-Setepnere 
*®P®for  reinforcementsS  then  he]  shall  come  to  him  as  reinforcement,  to 
slay  his  enemy.  But  if  it  be  [not]^  the  desire  of  Ramses-Meriamon, 
the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  to  come,  he  shall  [send  his  infantry  and  his 

chariotry  ^and  shall  slay  his  enemyS].  ^OrS - —  seeing  them, 

besides  returning  answer  to  the  land  of  Kheta.® 


*The  stipulations  of  the  former  treaty,  as  known  to  both  parties,  are  not 
stated. 

'^This  word  (modified  by  which  MUller  regards  as  a  conjunction)  must 

refer  to  Asiatic  subjects  of  Egypt,  who  rebel  or  fail  to  pay  tribute.  Kheta  is  not, 
in  such  a  case,  to  interfere  in  Egypt’s  attempts  at  punishment,  but  is  to  act  in  har¬ 
mony  with  Egypt.  Egypt’s  obligation  in  the  corresponding  clause  is  much  more 
elaborate,  but  is  unfortunately  not  clear,  owing  to  its  fragmentary  condition.  Evi¬ 
dently  the  two  clauses  mean  that  both  are  to  act  in  harmony  in  Syria;  each  is  to  assist 
the  other  there,  and  not  take  advantage  of  any  revolt  in  the  other’s  dependencies, 
for  self-aggrandizement. 

cThere  is  not  room  for  the  message,  as  in  the  corresponding  paragraph. 

^Omitted  in  original. 

•There  is  evidently  a  second  alternative  of  some  kind  here,  to  which  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  king  may  resort,  which  is  not  found  in  the  corresponding  clause  defining  the 
Hittitc  obligation. 


170  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [{381 


Chastisement  of  Syrian  Subjects 

381.  8.  Now  if  subjects  of  the  great  chief  of  Kheta  transgress  against 

him,  and  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  shall - 

the  land  of  Kheta  and  the  land  of  Egypt  - r - \  that  is  to 

say:  ‘‘I  will  come  after  rtheir  punishment,^^  to  Ramses-Meriamon,  the 

great  ruler  of  Egypt,  living  forever, - the  land  of  Kheta . 

. ^  their  appointing  him  for  them,  to  be  lord,  to  cause  that 

Usermare-Setepnere,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  shall  be  silent  from  his 

speech  forever.^  If  he  —  his - the  land  of  Kheta,  and  he  shall 

turn  back  fagain  to"*]  the  great  chief  of  Kheta - . 


Extradition  of  Political  Fugitives  in  Kheta 

382.  9.  [If  any  great*^  man  of  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  flee  and  shall 
come  to]  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  from  either  a  town  ®®[or]  —  of  the 
lands  of  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  and  they  shall 
come  to  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  then  the  great  chief  of  Kheta  shall 
not  receive  them,  (but)  the  great  chief  of  Kheta  shall  cause  them  to  be 
brought  to  Usermare-Setepnere,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  t[heir]  lord 
therefor. 


Extradition  of  Emigrants  to  Kheta 

383-  10.  Or  if  there  flee  a  man,  or  two  men  who  are  unknown  *3 — ^ 
and  they  shall  come  to®  the  land  of  Kheta,  to  become  foreign  subjects, 
then  they  shall  not  be  settled  in  the  land  of  Kheta,  but  they  shall  be 
brought  to  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt. 


aOr:  fate;''  have  we  here:  hr-s  ^-p^yf  (or  p  »  ysn)  i  ^  y,  as  in  1.  lo  ? 
few  unintelligible  fragments  are  omitted;  about  one-fifth  line. 

cThis  last  is  the  legal  phraseology  of  receipts,  by  which  all  future  claim  is 
renounced.  From  the  end  of  1.  19  on  we  have  additional  enactments  not  found 
in  the  corresponding  clause  of  the  Hittite  obligations. 

<iThe  persons  who  flee  are  of  two  classes:  ** great  men"  and  **men  who  are 
not  known"  viz.,  people  of  no  consequence  from  the  Egyptian  point  of  view,  but 
merely  mechanics,  artisans  or  servants. 

«These,  being  people  of  no  rank,  come  only  the  land  of  Kheta;"  but  the 
great  men"  go  personally  “/o  the  great  chief  of  Kheta."  The  verb  used  for  the 
**  great  men"  shows  also  the  distinction  between  the  two  classes;  it  is  Ssp^  **  receive" 
whereas,  referring  to  the  unknown  persons,  we  find  w^h  (possibly  ^*admit")y  prob¬ 
ably  “ settle"  that  is,  allow  them  to  settle  down  (but  w^h  is  also  used  once  of  the 
** great  men,"  1.  24). 


1386] 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


171 


Extradition  of  Political  Fugitives  in  Egypt 

384.  II.  Or  if  any  great  man  shall  flee  from  the  land  of  Kheta, 
[and  he  shall  come  to]  Usermare-Setepnere,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt, 
(from)  either  a  town  or  a  district,®  or  *4[any  region  of]  those  belonging 
to  the  land  of  Kheta,  and  they  shall  come  to  Ramses-Meriamon,  the 
great  ruler  of  Egypt,  then  Usermare-Setepnere,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt, 
shall  not  receive  them,  (but)  Ramses  -  Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of 
Egypt,  shall  cause  them  to  be  brought  to  the  great  chief  of  Kheta.  They 
shall  not  be  settled. 

Extradition  of  Emigrants  to  Egypt 

385.  12.  Likewise,  if  there  flee  a  man,  or  two,  or  three,  *5[who  are 
not]  known,  and  they  shall  come  to  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  become  foreign 
subjects,  then  Usermare-Setepnere,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  shall  not 
settle  them,  (but)  he  shall  cause  them  to  be  brought  to  the  great  chief 
of  Kheta. 


The  Witness  of  the  Gods  of  Kheta  and  Egypt 

386.  13.  As  for  the  words  of  this  *'contract‘*^  of  the  great  chief  of 
Kheta,  with  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  *^of  Egypt],  written 
upon  this  silver  tablet;  as  for  these  words,  a  thousand  gods  of  the  male 
gods  and  of  the  female  gods,  of  those  of  the  land  of  Kheta,  together 
with  a  thousand  gods,  of  the  male  gods  and  of  the  female  gods  of  those 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  they  are  with  me  as  witnesses  fto^  these  words: 
the  Sun-god,  lord  of  the  heavens,  the  Sun-god,  of  the  city  of  Ernen® 
(5  -f-n-»^),  *7Sutekh,  the  lord  of  the  heavens,  Sutekh  of  Kheta,  Sutekh 
of  the  city  of  Ernen,  Sutekh  of  the  city  Zepyerened  (D  ^  -pw-y  ^  -r  ^  - 
»-d^),  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Perek  y-r^  -k^),  Sutekh  of  the  city  of 
Khesesep  {^y-s  ^  -5  ^  -^  ^),  Sutekh  of  the  city  Seres  (S  ^  -ry-sw)^  Sutekh 
of  the  city  of  Aleppo  (^y-r  ^  -p^)j  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Rekhsen  (7?  ^  - 
~sy-n^)i  Sutekh  »®[of  the  city  of  — ],  - r — Sutekh  of  the 


»Cf.  the  use  of  this  word  {k^h,  ** corner**)  for  a  distant  region  in  Harkhuf 
(I,  335),  and  for  any  district  as  here,  in  the  Twenty-second  Dynasty,  Dakhel  stela 
(IV,  726, 1.  2),  and  two  more  examples  {ibid,,  note). 

^We  expect  here  the  name  of  the  Hittite  king;  hence  the  above  (MUller)  is 
very  uncertain. 

cA  city  in  the  district  called  by  the  Assyrians  “Kammanu  ....  on  the  border 
of  the  territory  of  the  Cappodocian  Comana,”  according  to  Sayce  {Proceedings  of 
the  Society  of  Biblical  Archeology,  23,  98). 


172 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§387 


city  of  Sekhpen  (5  ^ ^  Antheret  n^-t-r^  -ty)  of  the  land 
of  Kheta,  the  god  of  Zeyethekhrer  (P^  y-y^  -t-fyy-r-ry),  the  god  of 

Kerzet  —  (K^  y4^ - ),  the  god  of  Kherpenteres  -n- 

ty-ry-s  ^),  *®the  goddess  of  the  city  of  Kerekhen  —  n  —  - 

n - ),  the  goddess  of  I’Khewek^  the  goddess  of 

2^n  —  (P^  -y-n  — ),  the  god  of  Zen  —  wet  (^P^^-n - 

the  god  of  Serep  (5^-r^-^^),^  the  god  of  Khenbet  the 

queen  of  the  heavens,  gods,  lords  of  swearing,  the  goddess,  the  mistress 
of  the  soil,  the  mistress  of  swearing,  Teskher  the  mis¬ 

tress  of  3othe  mountains,  and  the  rivers  of  the  land  of  Kheta,  the  gods 
of  the  land  of  Kezweden  (Ky^d^  -w^  -n^),  Amon,  the  Sun -god, 

Sutekh,  the  male  gods  and  the  female  gods  of  the  mountains  and  the 
rivers  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  of  the  heavens,  the  soil,  the  great  sea,  the 
wind,  and  the  storms. 

Curse  on  the  Violator  of  the  Treaty 

387.  14.  Now,  these  words,  3*which  are  upon  this  silver  tablet,  are 
for  ^the  land  of  Kheta  and  for  the  land  of  Egypt.  As  for  him  who 
shall  not  keep  them,  the  thousand  gods  of  the  land  of  Kheta,  and  the 
thousand  gods  of  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  desolate  his  house,  his  land, 
and  his  subjects. 

Blessing  on  the  Observer  of  the  Treaty 

388.  15.  Now  as  for  him  who  shall  keep  these  words,  which  are 
upon  this  silver  tablet,  whether  they*  be  of  Kheta,  or  whether  they  be 
people  3aof  Egypt,  and  they  shall  not  devise  (aught)  against  them;  the 
thousand  gods  of  the  land  of  Kheta,  together  with  the  thousand  gods 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  shall  preserve  his  health,  and  his  life,  together 
with  his  issue,  with  his  land,^  and  his  subjects. 


^Miiller  corrects  to  s  and  reads  Astarte,  which  is  probable. 

^Sayce’s  reading  »,  with  b  and  »  is,  of  course,  impossible. 
cSo  Bouriant  and  Muller;  Sayce  has  D  »  ~y4y-ty, 
dSo  the  old  texts;  Milller  has  a  lacuna  for  5  ». 

*Uncertain. 

^The  fragments  of  the  Ramesseum  duplicate  begin  here;  but  Bouriant's 
reconstruction  begins  with  1.  33. 

sThe  change  of  number  is  in  the  original. 

h  According  to  Miiller,  this  word  is  omitted  in  the  original,  and  he  is  corrobo¬ 
rated  by  the  photograph. 


THE  ASIATIC  WAR 


173 


i39i] 


Treatment  of  Extradited  Persons  by  Kheta 

389.  16.  If  a  man  flee  from  the  land  of  Egypt,  or  two  or  three,  and 
33come*  to  the  great  chief  of  KJieta,  the  great  chief  of  Elheta  shall  seize 
upon  them,  and  shall  cause  them  to  be  brought  back  to  Usermare- 
Setepnere,  the  great  ruler  of  Eg)rpt.  Now,  as  for  the  man  who  shall 
be  brought  (back)  to  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  let 
not  his  crime  be  set  up  against  him;  let  not  34his  house  be  injured,  nor 
his  wives,  nor  his  children,  [let]  him  [not  be  killed],  and  let  no  injury 
be  done  to  his  eyes,  to  his  ears,  to  his  mouth,  nor  to  his  feet.  Let  not 
any  crime  be  set  up  against  him. 

Treatment  of  Extradited  Persons  hy  Egypt 

390.  17.  Likewise  if  a  man  flee  from  the  land  of  Kheta,  be  it  one, 
be  it  two,  (or)  be  it  three,  and  they  shall  come  to  Usermare-Setepnere, 
33the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  let  Ramses-Meriamon,  the  great  ruler  of 
Egypt,  seize  [upon  them,  and  let  him  cause]  that  they  be  brought  to  the 
great  chief  of  Kheta;  and  the  great  chief  of  Kheta  shall  not  set  up  their 
crime  against  them;  let  not  his  house  be  injured,  nor  his  wives,  nor  his 
children,  let  him  not  be  killed,  and  let  no  injury  be  done  to  his  ears, 
36to  his  eyes,  to  his  mouth,  nor  to  his  feet.  Let  not  any  crime  be  set 
up  against  him. 

Figures  and  Seals  on  the  Front  of  the  Silver  Plate 

391.  18.  '^hat  which  is  in  the  middle  of  this  silver  tablet:  on  its 
front  side  is  a  figure®  in  the  likeness  of  Sutekh  embracing  the  likeness 
of  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  surrounded  by  the  following  ^wordsi:  “The 
seal  of  Sutekh,  the  ruler  of  the  heavens;  the  seal  of  the  treaty  which 
Khetasar,  the  great  chief  37o£  Kheta,  the  valiant,  the  son  of  Merasar 
{M-r  ^  -r  ^),  the  valiant,  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  the  valiant,  made.” 


•From  here  on,  see  Bouriant’s  reconstruction,  Recueil,  XIV,  68,  69. 

^That  this  phrase  begins  the  description  of  the  silver  plate  is  self-evident; 
but  is  rendered  still  more  clear  by  the  parallel  phrase  in  1.  37  and  1.  38. 

cThis  word  (hpyw)  is  the  usual  one  for  inlay-figures  in  descriptions  of  Egyptian 
monuments;  it  may  equally  well  mean  ** design”  or  device”  The  sculptures  of 
Boghazkoi  show  a  figure  of  the  Hittite  ruler  embraced  by  his  god  (see  Messer- 
schmidt.  Corpus  InscripUonum  HeUitkarum,  Taf.  27  E;  di  Cara,  Proceedings  of 
the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceologyj  13,  196;  and  Muller,  V orderasiatische  GeselU 
schaftf  VII,  233  f.).  [Later:  Krail’s  review  of  Muller’s  publication  of  the  text 
contains  the  same  explanation  of  the  figures  on  the  plate.] 


174  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [§392 


That*  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  surrounding  design^  is  the  seal  [of 
Sutekh,  the  ruler  of  the  heavens].  [That  which  is  Hn  the  middle*  on] 
its  other  side  is  a  figure,  in  the  likeness  of  ^ of  Elheta,  embracing 
the  figure  of  the  princess  of  ELheta,  surrounded  by  the  following  words: 
“The  seal  of  the  ^sSun-god  of  the  city  of  Ernen  -r-n-n^),  the  lord 
of  the  land;  the  seal  of  Petkhep  (Pw-tw-fpy-p^),  the  princess^  of  the 
land  of  Kheta,  the  daughter  of  the  land  of  Kezweden  ^  -w 

the - of  Ernen,  the  mistress  of  the  land,  the  votress  of  the 

goddess.  That  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  surrounding  design  is  the 
seal  of  the  Sun-god  of  Ernen,  the  lord  of  every  land.” 


RELATIONS  OF  EGYPT  WITH  THE  HITTITES  AFTER 

THE  WAR 

392.  Ramses  II  regarded  the  conclusion  of  his  war  with 
the  Hittites  as  a  triumph  for  himself.  Peace  once  estab¬ 
lished,  he  referred  to  himself  continually  as  the  conqueror  of 
the  Hittites.®  Especially  at  Abu  Simbel  is  this  noticeable, 
where  his  inscriptions  speak  of  him  as  one: 

“Who  has  made  the  land  of  Kush  as  if  it  had  not  existed;  who  has 

caused  the  land  of  Kheta  to  cease  the  contradiction  of  its  mouth . 

smiter  of  the  land  of  Kheta . smiter  of  the  land  of  Kheta,  which 

is  made  heaps  of  dead.”* 

This  attitude  is  also  evident  in  his  obelisk  inscriptions, 
e.  g.,  at  Tanis  he  is  spoken  of  as  “carrying  off  the  chiefs  of 
Retenu  as  living  prisoners,  crushing  the  land  of  Kheta;'' 


»So  here  and  in  1.  38,  as  the  duplicate  (Sharpens  copy)  shows. 

*^Lit.,  '*the  surrounding  of  the  design;^^  the  same  also  in  the  last  line. 

cSome  female  divinity,  as  the  word  for  figure  ifpy’t)  shows. 

^Lit.,  ^UhieftainesSt^  being  the  feminine  {wr  't)  of  the  word  which  we  render 
** chief'*  (wr),  lit.,  'Agreed  one." 

•Besides  the  following,  it  should  be  noticed  that  the  latest  copies  of  the  Kadesh 
Poem  represent  Ramses  in  the  same  light  (see  Mtiller,  Asien  und  Europa,  216, 
n.  i;  and  infra,  §  314,  n.). 

^Stela  on  the  front  of  the  Abu  SiLi  jel  temple  (Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  195,  a, 
portions  of  11.  2-9). 


1 395]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  relations  after  war  I7S 


and  again,  penetrating  this  land  of  Kheta,  capturing  it 
with  valor,  making  a  great  slaughter  among  his  heroes 

393*  This  is  the  light  then,  in  which  the  Eg5^tians  chose 
to  represent  their  relations  with  Edieta.  But  the  peace  was 
not  broken,  and  we  are  able  to  trace  the  amicable  relations 
between  the  two  nations  through  the  thirty-fifth  year  of 
Ramses’  reign,  and  we  know  it  continued  also  into  that  of 
his  successor.  The  documents  are: 

I.  Blessing  of  Ptah  (§§  394-414). 

II.  Marriage  Stela  (§§415-24). 

III.  Message  of  the  Chief  of  Kheta  to  the  Chief  of  Kode 
(§§  425,  426). 

IV.  Coptos  Stela  (§§  427,  428). 

V.  Bentresh  Stela  (§§  429-447). 

I.  THE  BLESSING  OF  PTAH** 

394.  This  remarkable  document  contains  a  long  address 
of  Ptah  to  Ramses  II,  which  promises  him  all  possible  good 
fortune  (11.  3-28).  To  this  Ramses  replies  by  enumerating 
some  of  his  good  works  for  the  god  (11.  29-37).  The  docu¬ 
ment  is  chiefly  of  religious  interest,  but  both  addresses  con¬ 
tain  references  to  historical  events  of  importance. 

395.  The  speech  of  Ptah  mentions  his  building  of  the 


“All  of  Ramses  II^s  obelisks  were  erected  at  least  nine  years  after  the  close  of 
the  Hittite  war;  the  above  texts  are  translated  from  Petrie,  Tanis,  I,  VII,  No.  45, 
and  VIII,  No.  49- 

^Engraved  on  a  large  stela  in  the  first  hall  of  the  great  Abu  Simbel  temple, 
and  is  published  by  Champollion,  Monuments^  38  (without  relief  at  top) ;  Lepsius, 
Denkmaletf  III,  194,  from  which  Rheinisch,  Chrestomaihief  XIII,  is  copied;  Naville, 
Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology^  VII,  iipff.  and  plate,  made 
from  a  squeeze.  The  document  was  later  appropriated  by  Ramses  III  and 
engraved  by  him  upon  the  first  pylon  of  the  Medinet  Habu  Temple,  published  by 
Diimichen,  Historische  Tnschriften,  I,  7-10;  Roug6,  Inscriptions  hiSroglyphiques, 
II,  131-38.  The  translation  herein  is  made  with  constant  reference  to  the  later 
version  (called  M),  which  is  very  useful,  as  the  older  text  (called  A)  omits  the 
first  person  singular  ending  frequently  and  is  in  places  corrupt.  Important 
variants  from  M  are  given  in  the  notes. 


176 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  H 


[§396 


residence  city,  Tanis  (11.  16-18),  and  the  visit  of  the  Hittite 
king  (11.  24-28),  bringing  his  eldest  daughter,  which  had 
occurred  in  the  year  34,  a  year  before  the  erection  of  our 
stela.  It  furnishes  us  with  a  shorter  account  of  the  incident 
than  the  Marriage  Stela  (§§415-24).  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  visit  is  attributed  to  the  influence  of  Ptah  (11. 
15  and  25),  just  as  in  the  Coptos  Stela  (§§427,  428),  which 
refers  to  the  same  or  a  similar  incident. 

396.  The  reply  of  Ramses  mentions  in  particular  his 
temple  buildings  at  Memphis  (11.  32-34)  and  their  endow¬ 
ment  (11.  34,  35). 

397.  A  relief  at  the  top  of  the  stela  shows  Ramses  II 
smiting  three  Asiatic  enemies  before  Ptah-Tatenen,  who  is 
leading  to  him  six  captives,  one  of  whom  is  a  Negro,  and  the 
rest  are  bearded;  but,  as  the  names  show,  the  latter  should 
be  Negroes  (p.  202,  n.  c).  The  inscription  below,  of  thirty- 
seven  lines,  is  as  follows: 

Date 

398.  'Year  35,  first  month  of  the  second  season,  day  13,  under  the 

majesty  of . * . Ramses  II,®  given  life. 

Introduction 

399.  Utterance  of  Ptah-Tatenen,  of  lofty  plumes  and  ready  horns, 
begetter  of  the  gods,  to  his  son,  his  beloved,  ^firstborn  of  his  body, 
the  divine  god,  sovereign  of  the  gods,  great  in  royal  jubilees  like  Tatenen, 
King  Ramses  II,  given  life:'* 

Speech  of  Ptah;  Birth  of  Ramses 

400.  “I  am  thy  father,  who  begat  thee  as  the  gods,  all  thy  limbs 
are  of  the  gods.  I  assumed  my  form  as  the  Ram,  lord  of  ®Mendes,' 
and  begat  thee  in  thy  august  mother,**  since  I  knew  that  thou  wouldest  be 


•Full  fivefold  titulary.  '’Double  titulary. 

has:  cohabited  with  thy  august  mother,  in  order  to  fashion  thy  form 

(Ity)  as  lord  of  [Hhe  Two  Lands^.*^ 


J403]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  177 


my  champion,  that  thou  wouldst  indeed  do  profitable  things  for  niy  ka. 
I  fashioned  thee  to  rise  like  Re,  exalted  thee  before  the  gods,  King  Ramses 
II,  given  life.  The  companions  of  sptah  jubilate, *  thy  Meskhenet^ 
rejoices  in  jubilation  since  ‘^they  have  seen  me,  likeness  to^®  my 
august,  great,  and  mighty  body.  The  priestesses^  of  the  house  of  Ptah, 
the  Hathors^  of  the  house  of  Atum  are  ^in  festivity,  their  hearts  are  in 
joy.  Their  hands  are  uplifted  in  acclaim  since  they  have  seen  thy 
beautiful  form.  Thy  amiability  is  like  my  i^majesty^;  the  gods  and  god¬ 
desses  acclaim  thy  beauty,  praising,  »and  assigning  to  me  laudation, 
saying:  “Thou  art  our  august  father,  who  hast  fashioned  for  us  a  god 
like  thee,  Ramses  II,  given  life.’’ 

Ptah  Promises  Happiness 

401.  “When  I  see  thee  my  heart  rejoices,  and  I  receive  thee  in  an 
embrace  of  gold,  I  enfold  thee  with  ^permanence,  stability  and  satis¬ 
faction;  I  endow  thee  with  health  and  joy  of  heart;  I  immerse  thee 
in  rejoicing,  joy,  gladness  of  heart,  and  delights,  —  forever.” 

Ptah  Promises  Wisdom 

40!2.  “  I  make  thy  heart  divine  like  me,  I  choose  thee,  I  weigh  thee, 
I  prepare  thee,  that  thy  heart  may  discern,  that  thy  utterance  may  be 
profitable.  There  is  nothing  ^whatever  which  thou  dost  not  know, 
(for)  I  have  completed  thee  ®this  day  and  before,  that  thou  mayest 
make  all  men  live  by  thy  instruction,®  O  King  Ramses  II,  given  life.” 

Ptah  Promises  Power 

403.  “  I  have  set  thee  as  everlasting  king,  ruler  established  forever. 
I  have  wrought  *®thy  limbs  of  electrum,  thy  bones  of  copper,  thy  organs 
of  iron.  I  have  given  to  thee  the  divine  ofl&ce,  that  thou  mayest  rule 
the  Two  Lands  ^like  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt. 

^Following  M,  which  the  parallelism  shows  to  be  more  probably  correct, 
A  has:  *^The  companions  of  Ptah  are  {thy)  nurses.** 

'^Goddess  of  birth. 

cFollowingM;  a  lacuna  makes  A  unintelligible.  M  would  mean  that  in  seeing 
Ramses  they  see  Ptah. 

dLit.,  **greatt  august  ones**  a  title  of  these  priestesses. 

«M  has :  “  in  the  counsels  of  life,  that  thou  mayest  make  others  live  by  thy  designs** 

fM:  “as  thy  kingdom.** 


178 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§404 


Ptah  Promises  Agricultural  Wealth 

404.  “  I  give  thee  a  great  Nile,  I  endow  for  thee  the  Two  Lands  with 
wealth,  produce,  food,  and  luxuries,  giving  **plenty®  in  every  place 
where  thou  treadest.  I  give  to  thee  constant  harvests,  to  feed  the  Two 
Lands  at  all  times;  the  sheaves^  thereof  are  like  the  sand  of  the  shore, 
their  granaries  approach  heaven,  and  their  grain-heaps  are  like  moun¬ 
tains.  There  is  joy  and  laudation  “at  seeing  thee,  (for)  plenty  of  fish 
and  fowl  are  under  thy  feet.*^  The  South  and  North  are  satisfied  with 
thy  ka.®  Heaven  is  given  to  thee  and  that  which  is  in  it;  earth^  is  led 
to  thee  and  that  which  is  in  it;  ®the  pool  comes  to  thee  bearing  its 
fowl.®  Harsekha^  *3bears  her  provisions,  the  best  of  the  ka  of  Re ;  Thoth 
has  set  them  on  thy  every  side,  that  thou  mayest  open  thy  mouth,  to 
enrich  whom  thou  pleasest,  according  as  thou  art  the  living  Khnum, 
and  thy  dominion  is  in  victory  and  might  like  (that  of)  Re  when  he  ruled 
*^the  Two  Lands,  O  King  Ramses  II,  given  life.’* 

Ptah  Promises  Mineral  and  Industrial  Wealth 

405.  “  I  cause  the  mountains  to  shape  for  thee  great,  mighty,  per¬ 
fected  monuments;  I  cause  the  countries  to  fashion  for  thee  [all]  splen¬ 
did,  costly  stone,  for  ^employment*  in  monuments  in  thy  name. 
make  profitable  for  thee  all  works ;«  I  cause  all  labor^  to  serve  thee, 
everything  that  goes  on  two  legs,  (or)  upon  four  legs,  everything  that 
flies,  and  all  that  soars.  I  put  it  into  the  heart  of  every  land  *to  offer 
and  to  labor  for  thee*  themselves;!  ^chiefs,  great  and  small,^  with 
*^one  accord  do  profitable  things  for  thy  ka.  King  Ramses  II,  given 
life.” 


»Read5rf/».  **  grains  cM. 

<10riginal  has  the  earth-god. 

cin  M  the  word  **pooV'  is  determined  with  a  wild  fowl,  and  it  reads:  **ths 
(bird^)  pools  lead  to  thee  the  fowl  of  heaven^'  {yry'w-pt),  A  similar  notion  is  found 
in  IV,  265,  1.  2. 

rare  goddess  of  unknown  functions. 
sPerhaps:  workmen** 

*»Lit.,  “a//  artisanship**  (fern,);  but  M  shows  as  determinative  a  man. 

»M:  “to  offer  their  labor  {impost)  to  thee** 

JThe  same  idea  is  found  in  the  Coptos  stela  of  Ramses  II  (§  428). 

^Possibly:  '^chiefs  and  petty  kings;**  M  has  only  ** great  and  small.** 


§408]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  179 


Ramses^  Residence  City  and  Us  Buildings 

406.  “  Thou  hast  made  an  august  residence,  to  make  strong  the 
boundary  of  the  Two  Lands  (named):  ‘‘House-of-Ramses-Meriamon- 
Given-Life,”  ®that  it  may  flourish  on  earth  like  the  four  pillars  *^of 

heaven - a  sovereign  therein,^  that  thou  mayest  celebrate  the 

royal  jubilees  that  I  celebrated  therein.  I  put  on  thy  crown  with  my 
own  two  hands,  when  thou  appearest  upon  the  great  double  staircase. 
Men  and  gods  acclaim  thy  name  *®Mike  mine  when  thou  celebratest  the 
royal  jubilees.^  Thou  fashionest  the  statues,  thou  buildest  their  holy 
places  as  I®  did  at  the  first  beginning.*’ 

Ptah  Promises  Long  Life  and  Prosperity 

407.  “  I  give  to  thee  years  of  royal  jubilees,  my  rule,  my  place,  my 
throne.  I  endow  thy  limbs  with  life,  satisfaction  and  protection  behind 
thee,  ^with  *  prosperity  and  health.  I  protect  Egypt  under  thy  author¬ 
ity,  the  Two  Lands  are  diffused  with  the  satisfying  life  of*^  Ramses  II, 
given  life.” 

Ptah  Promises  Power 

408.  ‘‘  I  have  set  for  thee  the  might,  victory,  and  strength  of  thy 
sword  in  every  land,  I  have  bound  for  thee  the  hearts  of  all  lands,®  *®I 
have  set  them  beneath  thy  feet.  When  thou  appearest  every  day,  ^  the 
captives  of  the  Nine  Bows^  are  brought  to  thee,  the  great  chiefs  of  every 
land  present  to  thee  their  children,  I  assign  them  to  thy  mighty  sword, 
to  do  what  thou  pleasest  with  them,  King  Ramses  II,  given  life. 
I  have  put  thy  terror  in  every  heart,  thy  love  in  every  body;  I  have  set 
thy  might  in  every  country,  thy  fear  encircles  the  mountains,  and  the 


»M  has:  ^^ptentiful  in  provisions  for  Egypt^  flo[urishing]  like  [the  four  pillars 
of]  heaven;  thy  majesty  abides  in  its  palace^  that  I  may  build  the  wall  of  my  seat 
therein.” 

has:  **when  thou  appearest  at  the  jubilees^  like  me.” 
cCompare  the  great  Ptah  inscription  of  Memphis,  which  says  of  him:  **He 
made  likenesses  of  their  {the  gods^)  bodies  to  the  satisfaction  of  their  hearts^  he  made 
the  gods  enter  into  their  bodies  of  every  wood,  of  every  costly  stone,  of  every  ^metaP” 

(1.  ^);  also:  ** He  formed  the  gods . he  set  the  gods  in  the  holy  places” 

(11.  59,  60;  Zeitschrift  fiir  dgyptische  Sprache,  1901,  Taf.  I,  II). 

has:  “Xj  the  protection  of  (Jthy^)  limbs.  Victorious  art  thou,  every  land 
is  under  thee,  Egypt  is  diffused  with  thy  beauty” 

«M  has:  ”the  lands  of  the  Asiatics  {St'tyw),” 
fM  has:  ”the  captives  of  thy  two  hands,” 


i8o 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§409 


chiefs  tremble  at  the  mention  of  thee.  Thy  majesty  flourishes,  *»stead- 
fast  as  their  head;  they  come  to  thee,  crying  out  together,  to  crave 
peace  from  thee.  Thou  lettest  live  whom  thou  wilt,  and  thou  slayest 
whom  thou  wilt.  Lo,  the  throne  of  every  land  is  under  thy 
authority.” 


Ptah  the  Author  of  Ramses^  Prosperity 

409.  “I  cause  to  befall  thee  *3thy  ®great^  wonders,  and  every  good 
thing  to  happen  to  thee.  The  Two  Lands^  under  thee  are  in  acclama¬ 
tion,  Egypt  flourishes,  rejoicing,  O  Ramses  II,  given  life.  I  have 
transferred  my  dignity  to  thee;  thy  great  and  marvelous  ^^excellence 
approaches  heaven;  the  Two  Lands  are  in  joy,  they  who  are  therein 
rejoice  at  that  which  has  happened  to  thee.  As  for  the  mountains,  the 
waters,  and  the  buildings  upon  the  land,  they  remove  at  thy  good^ 
name,  when  they  behold  this  command.” 

Visit  of  the  Hittites 

410.  “  I  have  made  *5for  thee  the  ‘^land  of  Kheta^  into  subjects  of 
thy  palace;  I  have  put  it  into  their  hearts  to  present  themselves,  with 
fearful  steps  to  thy  ka,  bearing  their  impost  which  their  chiefs  have 
captured,  all  their  possessions  as  tribute  to  *^the  fame  of  his  majesty, 
L.  P.  H.  His  eldest  daughter  is  in  front  thereof,  to  satisfy  the  heart  of 
the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  King  Ramses  II,  given  life.  Ht*®  is  a 
mysterious  marvel;  she  knows  not  the  excellent  matter  which  I  have 
done  at  thy  desire,  *7that  thy  great  name  should  be  excellent  forever. 
The  success  of  the  victorious  hero  is  a  great  mystery  for  which  he  prays. 
It  has  not  been  heard  since  (the  time  of)  the  gods;  the  mysterious 
records  have  been  in  the  house  of  books  from  the  time  of  Re  until  thy 
majesty,  **L.  P.  H.,  (but)  the  relation  of  Kheta  in  one  accord  with 
Egypt  has  not  been  known.  Lo,  it  was  commanded  to  slay  them 
beneath  thy  feet,  in  order  to  make  thy  name  live  forever,  O  King  Ramses 
II,  given  life.” 


»M.  has:  **the  lands**  cM  has:  ** victorious** 

<5M  modifies  these  statements  to  suit  the  times  of  Ramses  III;  it  has:  ** every 
land**  here;  and  in  place  of  **his  eldest  daughter,  etc.**  (1.  26),  it  has:  ** their  sons 
and  their  daughters  as  slaves  to  thy  palace** 

•Possibly:  she;**  all  this  is  omitted  in  M. 


§413]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  i8i 


Reply  of  Rainses 

41 1.  *«>Utterance  of  the  divine  king,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands, 
*lord  of  the  form  of*  Khepri,  in  whose  limbs  is  Re,  who  came  forth 
from  Re,  whom  Ptah-Tatenen  begat,  King  Ramses  II,  given  life;  to 
his  father,  from  whom  he  came  forth,  Tatenen,  3ofather  of  the  gods: 
“I  am  thy  son  whom  thou  hast  placed  upon  thy  throne.  Thou  hast 
assigned  to  me  thy  kingdom,  thou  hast  fashioned  me  in  thy  likeness 
and  thy  form,  which  thou  hast  assigned  to  me  and  hast  created.  I 
shall  do  again  every  good  thing  that  thou  desirest,  while  I  am  sole  lord, 
as  thou  wast,  to  settle  the  ^’affairsi^  of  the  land.  I  have  created  Egypt 
for  thee  anew,  I  have  made  it  as  at  the  beginning,  I  have  wrought  the 
gods’  forms  from  thy  limbs,  even  to  their  color  and  to  their  bodies; 
I  have  equipped  Eg)q)t  according  to  their  desire,  I  have  built  it  up 
with  3nemples.” 


Building  of  Memphis  Temple 

412.  *‘I  have  enlarged  thy  house  in  Memphis,®  protected  with 
everlasting  works,  with  excellent  labor,  in  stone,  wrought  with  gold 
and  genuine  costly  stones,  I  constructed  thy  forecourt  33on  the  north 
with  an  august  double  facade  before  thee.  Their  doors  are  like  the 
horizon  of  heaven,  causing  (even)  strangers  to  praise  thee.  I  made 
for  thee  an  august  temple  in  the  midst  of  the  inclosure.  Thou  god, 
^whom  I  havei  fashioned,  art  in  its  secret  chapel,  34resting  upon  its 
great  throne.” 


Endowment  of  Memphis  Temple 

413.  “It  is  equipped  with  priests,  prophets,  peasant-slaves,  lands, 
and  cattle.  It  is  made  festive  with  innumerable  divine  offerings  con¬ 
sisting  of  all  things.  I  have  celebrated  thy  great  feast  of  royal  jubilees, 
35as  thou  commandest  them  me.  All  things  that  are,  are  brought  to 
thee  in  great  offerings,  at  thy  desire:  bulls  {wn~dw),  cattle  beyond  limit. 
I  have  brought  all  their  number  in  millions;  as  for  the  fat  thereof,  it 
has  reached  heaven,  and  the  dwellers  in  heaven  have  received  it.” 


aSo  M;  A  has:  becoming  as  (•^like,  or  merely  introducing  the  predicate) 
Khepri:* 

l>See  Ineni,  1.  17,  note  (II,  341). 
cSee  S§  530-37* 


i82 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§414 


Foreign  Conquests 

414.  I  have  caused  every  land  to  see  the  beauty  in  the  monuments 
which  I  have  made  for  thee.  I  have  branded  the  people  of  the  Nine 
Bows  and  the  whole  land  with  thy  name,  they  belong  to  thy  ka,  forever, 
for  thou  art  the  creator  of  them;  by  command  of  this  thy  son,  who  is 
upon  thy  throne,  37lord  of  gods  and  men,  sovereign  celebrating  the 
jubilees  like  thee  ^when  thou^  bearest  the  two  sistrums,  ®son  of  the 
white  crown,  heir  of  the  red  crown,  ^  possessing  the  Two  Lands  in  peace, 
Ramses  II,  given  life,  forever  and  ever.*^ 

n.  MARRIAGE  STELA'* 

415.  This  monument  enables  us  to  trace  more  fully  the 
further  relations  between  Egypt  and  the  Hittites  after  the 
peace  had  been  negotiated.  A  relief  at  the  top  shows  the 
king  of  the  Hittites  and  his  daughter  in  the  presence  of 
Ramses.  Before  the  daughter  are  the  words:  “ Matnejrure,^ 
daughter  of  the  chief  of  Kheta''  A  mutilated  inscription 
accompanying  the  two  visitors  contained  their  words  of 
praise  to  Ramses  II.  The  beginning  is  entirely  lost  for 
five  lines,  where  it  proceeds:** 

Speech  0}  King  0}  Kheta 

Thou  didst  command  the  land  of  Kheta,  thou  takest  captive  the 
people  —  with  all  their  possessions,  the  eldest®  daughter  being  at  their 


aAmend  so;  see  Naville’s  commentary. 

'’Cut  in  the  face  of  the  south  wall  of  the  excavated  court  in  front  of  the  temple 
of  Abu  Simbel.  The  lower  half  being  covered  by  sand,  Lepsius  saw  only  the  relief 
at  the  top  and  eighteen  lines  (of  the  forty-one  lines)  below;  this  much  he  published 
(Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  196),  but  without  indication  that  it  was  not  the  whole. 
The  entire  inscription,  without  the  relief,  was  published  by  Bouriant  {Recueil, 
XVIII,  164-66).  In  11.  36-39, 1  was  able  to  control  Bouriant’s  publication  by  the 
copy  of  Steindorff,  which  he  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal.  The  original  is  much 
mutilated,  and  so  indistinct  that  some  passages  have  been  omitted  as  too  uncer¬ 
tain  in  text  for  translation. 

cMisread  by  Lepsius;  for  proper  reading,  see  §  417. 

^Bouriant  did  not  copy  this;  the  following  translation  is  made  from  Stein- 
dorff’s  copy  of  the  original. 

«As  the  Hittite  king  is  speaking,  one  expects  “my  daughter  ”  as  in  1.  32  of  the 
long  inscription,  which  repeats  these  words. 


§417]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  183 


head,  to - before  thy  beautiful  face.  Thou  commandest  them 

- under  thy  feet  forever  and  ever,  together  with  the  whole  land  of 

Kheta.  While  thou  shinest  upon  the  throne  of  Re,  every  land  is  under 
[thy]  feet,  forever. 

416.  Below  the  relief  is  a  long  inscription  of  forty-one  lines 
beginning  with  the  date  “ycor  ^4.”  Three-fourths  (twenty- 
nine  lines)  of  this  inscription  are  devoted  to  an  extravagant 
encomium  of  the  Pharaoh,  containing  only  the  hackneyed 
phrases  of  conventional  praise,  relieved  by  two  references 
to  the  defeat  of  Kheta.  The  last  fourth  of  the  document 
(11.  30-41)  then  proceeds  with  an  incident,  of  which  the 
mutilated  condition  of  the  monument  and  the  excessively 
inaccurate  publication  permit  us  to  gain  only  the  meagerest 
outline.  After  a  reference  to  the  treaty  of  peace,  the  king 
of  the  Hittites  is  represented  as  reverting  to  their  defeat  by 
Ramses,  and  he  apparently  proposes  that  they  proceed  to 
Eg5^t.  This  they  do,  bringing  rich  gifts,  and  the  news 
soon  reaches  Ramses,  who  is  filled  with  delight,  and  prepares 
to  receive  his  visitors;  the  chiefs  of  Kheta,  Kode,  and  “f/te 
chiefs  of  every  land."  He  seems  to  be  concerned  for  their 
arrival  in  the  uncertainties  of  winter  travel,  and  offers  an 
oblation  to  Sutekh  on  their  behalf.  When  finally,  with  the 
escort  he  had  sent  to  meet  them,  they  arrive  in  safety,  they 
appear  with  the  Hittite  king’s  eldest  daughter  at  their  head, 
the  troops  of  Egypt  '‘mingling  with  the  foot  and  horse  of 
Kheta."  A  great  feast  seems  to  have  been  immediately 
held,  where  those  who  had  once  faced  each  other  in  combat 
now  eat  and  drink  together,  while  the  Asiatic  princes  ap¬ 
proach  the  Pharaoh  in  audience. 

417.  It  is  probably  at  this  feast  that  the  Hittite  princess 
thus  brought  to  Egypt  was  married  to  Ramses.  The  his¬ 
torical  character  of  this  marriage  is  further  evidenced  by 
the  colossus  of  Ramses  II  at  Tanis,  attached  to  which  is  a 
statue  of  a  queen  bearing  the  inscription:* 

»Mariette,  RecueU,  IX,  13;  Roug£,  Inscriptions  hiiroglyphiques,  74;  Petrie, 
TaniSf  I,  24,  PI.  5,  36  B. 


184 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§418 


** Great  king's- wife,  mistress  Qin  t)  of  the  Two  Lands:  Mat- 
nefrure  daughter  of  the  great  chief  of  Kheta." 

This  inscription,  therefore,  renders  unquestionable  the 
main  facts  of  the  following  narrative  on  the  Marriage  Stela. 

The  Treaty  of  Peace 

418*  30 . The  chief  of  Kheta  sent,  asking  of  me  permanent^ 

peace.  Never  did  he  —  for  them.  Now  ^afterward^ . plunder 

the  great  fame  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  King  Ramses  (II). 

The  Chief  of  Kheta  Counsels  with  His  Officers 

419.  Then  spake  the  chief  of  the  land  of  Kheta  to  his  ^army*®  and 
his  nobles,  saying:  ‘‘Now  is  our  land  devastated;  Sutekh  i^is*  our  lord 

to  ^'protect  usi,  (but)  jjhe  has^  not . 3afighting  with  them. 

We  have  been  taken  captive  with  all  our  possessions ;  my  eldest  daughter 
being  before  them*^ . " 

They  Proceed  with  Gifts  to  Egypt 

420,  Then  they  fcame^  with  [their]  possessions,  and  [their]  splendid 
fgifts^  before  33them,  of  silver  and  gold,  marvels  many  and  great. 


horses  to  —  them,  —  living  things . 

The  News  Reaches  Ramses 

421 . to  delight  the  heart  of  his  majesty,  saying:  “Behold, 

the  great  chief  of  Kheta  comes,  34bringing  his  eldest  daughter,  bearing 


much  tribute,  being  everything . The  chief  of  Kheta,  together 

with  the  chief  of  fKode®  and  people^]  of  Kheta,  are  bringing  them. 
They  have  traversed  many  mountains  and  difficult  ways,  that  they 


^Meaning:  *^She  who  sees  the  beauty  of  Re'*  (the  sun).  It  is  the  name  of 
the  last  hour  of  the  night  (Brugsch,  Thesaurus^  IV,  845;  Petrie,  Proceedings  of 
the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology^  XXVI,  36). 
rnp't  n  rnp't,  ^*year  by  year?** 

cThe  word  is  lost  except  the  determinative  of  men  and  plural  strokes;  of 
course,  the  first  /  is  a  misread  n. 

dThese  words  are  among  those  used  by  the  chief  of  Kheta  in  addressing  the 
Pharaoh  in  the  relief  above  (§415). 

®This  restoration,  in  view  of  the  letter  in  Ahastasi,  II  (§§  425,  426),  is  exceed- 
ingly  probable. 


§424]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  185 


might  reach  the  boundaries  of  his  majesty.  .  .  .  3S . His  majesty 

received  the  twordi - [in]  the  palace,  with  joy  of  heart. 

Ramses  Makes  Preparations  to  Receive  Them 

422.  When  he  heard  such  strange  and  unexpected  matters . 

he  commanded  ^^the  army  and  the  princes  to  receive  in  front  of  them 
in  haste. 


Ramses^  Sacrifices  to  Sutekh  for  Good  Weather 

423.  Then  his  majesty  took  counsel  rfor^  the  army®  with  his  own 
heart,  saying:  “What  are  these  newcomers  like!  When  there  goes 
not  a  messenger^  to  Zahi  (D  ^  -h  in  these  days  of  flood  37on  the 
upper  ^heights*®  in  winter.”^  Then  [he]  offered  an  oblation  for  ^ — * 
and  for  Sutekh.  Then  he  came  fprayijing,  saying:  “Heaven  is  — 
and  earth  is  under  ^thy  feet’.  That  which  thou  commandest  is  all  that 
happens.  Thou  —  to  make  the  flood  and  the  cold  upon  the  ^heights’ 

. 38.  .  .  .  which  thou  hast  assigned  to  me.  King  Ramses  (II).” 

Then  his  father,  Sutekh,  heard  every  [wor]d 

Arrival  of  Ramses*  Escort  with  the  Visitors 

424 . his  army  came,  their  limbs  being  sound,  and  they 

were  long  in  stride  39 . The  daughter  of  the  great  chief  of 

Kheta  marched  in  ffront’]  of  the  army . of  his  majesty  in 

following  her.  They  were  mingled  with  foot  and  horse  of  Kheta; 
they  were  4®warriors®  as  well  as  regulars;  they  ate  and  they  drank  ^not’ 
fighting  face  to  face . between  them,  after  the  manner  of  the 


*This  is  probably  the  “amy”  escort  of  the  visitors,  by  which  term  (“army”) 
Ramses  refers  to  the  whole  expedition  now  on  the  way  to  Egypt. 

^Lit.,  *^they  go  not  by  messenger or  **as  a  messenger ^ 
cBouriant  has  miscopied  the  word,  as  is  shown  by  its  second  occurrence  in 
this  same  line;  it  is  perhaps  height,'* 

dit  is  evident  that  Ramses  expresses  to  himself  here  his  wonder  that  these 
visitors  are  coming  in  the  winter  rainy  season,  when  hardly  a  state  messenger  could 
reach  Zahi;  though  the  language  he  uses  is  obscure  and  difficult.  He  now 
offers  to  Sutekh  a  gift  for  the  sake  of  good  weather  and  the  safe  arrival  of  the 
visitors.  The  similar  reference  in  the  poem  (§426)  on  the  same  occasion  to 
Ramses*  power  over  rain  and  storm  is  hardly  accidental.  The  author  of  the 
poem  knew  of  the  Abu  Simbel  Stela.  For  a  similar  offering  for  favorable  weather 
on  a  voyage,  see  Punt  Expedition  (II,  252). 

^Mercenaries. 


i86 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


r§425 


god  himself,  King  Ramses  (II).  The  great  chiefs  of  every  land  came; 
they  were  bowed  down,  turning  back  in  fear,  when  they  saw  fhis  majesty ; 
the  chief  of*]  Kheta  pcamei]  among  them,  fto  seek  the  favor^  of  King 
Ramses  (II). 

III.  MESSAGE  OF  THE  CHIEF  OF  KHETA  TO  THE  CHIEF  OF 

KODE^ 

425.  This  poetic  fragment  perhaps  indicates  that  Ramses 
II  invited  the  chief  of  Kheta  and  other  Asiatic  chiefs,  at 
least  the  chief  of  Kode,  to  Eg)rpt,  and  this  invitation  a  court 
poet  of  course  regards  as  a  command  (Poem  below,  1.  2). 
To  this  invitation  the  Abu  Simbel  stela  (§§  41 5-24)  makes 
no  reference,  and  the  whole  ten-line  poem,  being  of  course 
only  the  fancy  of  a  court  poet  to  embellish  his  description 
of  the  glories  of  Ramses’  capitol,  to  which  the  Hittite  visitors 
came,  may  have  no  foundation  in  fact.  Such  a  visit,  how¬ 
ever,  and  the  marriage  alliance  which  it  consummated,  as 
we  know  from  the  Amarna  Letters,  must  have  occasioned 
much  preliminary  correspondence,  of  which  this  poem  offers 
us  a  hint. 

426.  The  great  chief  (wr-  ^  ^)  of  Kheta  sent  to  the  chief  (wr)  of  Kode 
(saying) : 

“Equip  thyself  that  we  may  proceed  to  Egypt, 

That  we  may  say:  ‘The  behest  of  the  god  comes  to  pass;' 

Let  us  make  overtures  to  Ramses  II,  L.  P.  H., 

For  he  gives  breath  to  whom  he  will, 

And  every  country  lies  at  his  disposition. 

Kheta  is  in  his  power  alone. 

If  the  god  accepts  not  his  offering. 

It  (Kheta)  sees  no  rain,*^ 

For  it  is  in  the  power  of  Ramses  (II),  L.  P.  H., 

The  Bull,  loving  valor." 


^Papyrus  Anastasi  II,  PI.  II.  11.  1-5  ^ibid.  IV,  PI.  VI,  11.  7-10.  Their  con¬ 
nection  with  the  Hittite  king’s  visit  was  first  noted  by  Erman,  AegypteUf  joy. 

^Lit.,  ** water  of  heaven;'*  it  can  hardly  be  an  accident  that  the  prose  account 
(§423)  also  narrates  an  instance  of  Ramses’  power  with  the  god  in  respect  of  rain 
and  storm. 


J4*8]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  187 


IV.  COPTOS  STELA“ 

427.  This  document  recorded  the  visit  to  Egypt  of  a 
number  of  the  Asiatic  princes  bearing  gifts  for  the  Pharaoh. 
It  is  a  visit  precisely  like  that  of  the  Hittite  king  (§410)  and 
his  neighbors,  and  reference  is  made  to  ‘‘his  other  daughter 
as  if  another  princess  were  being  brought  to  Ramses  in 
marriage.  As  the  mention  of  this  princess  occurs  directly 
after  a  reference  to  Keshkesh,  one  of  the  allies  of  the  Hittite 
king;  as  the  envoys  are  later  (1.  13)  said  to  he  “the  children 
0}  the  great  chiefs  of  the  land  of  Kheta,”  and  as  there  is  a 
reference  to  a  coming  “to  Egypt  for  the  second  time,''  this 
may  possibly  be  the  account  of  Ramses’  marriage  to  a 
second  Hittite  princess.  The  pious  priests  attribute  both 
the  visit  and  the  gifts,  to  the  gods  (1.  9),  and  particularly, 
among  the  gods  of  Egypt,  to  Ptah,  precisely  as  is  done  in 
the  Blessing  of  Ptah  in  referring  to  the  visit  of  the  Hittite 
king  with  his  daughter  (§  410,  1.  25). 

428.  J*’ - [chiefs  of]®  all  countries  conveying  their  tribute, 

* - of  much  gold,  of  much  silver,  of  all  costly  stones,  s - 

very  many  captives  of  Keshkesh  (KS-kS),  many  captives  *[of] - 

in  writing  for  King  Ramses  (II)  ^ - many  [herds]  of  goats, 

many  herds  of  small  cattle'*  before  his  other  daughter  * - Ramses 

II,  given  life,  to  Egypt  for  the  second  time.  It  was  not  troops  who 
brought  them;  it  was  not  - [the  god]s  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 


“A  “black  quartzose”  stela  found  by  Petrie  in  the  Coptos  temple;  it  had 
contained  an  older,  probably  Middle  Kingdom,  inscription,  which  Rainses  II  had 
dressed  off  for  the  reception  of  his  own  inscription  (Petrie,  Coptos,  15).  It  has 
been  broken  so  that  about  half  the  document  is  missing,  the  line  of  breakage  being 
from  the  beginning  of  the  first  to  the  end  of  the  last  line.  Text,  ibid.,  XVIII; 
I  had  also  a  copy  by  Schaefer,  which  added  a  little  at  the  broken  edge,  and  fur¬ 
nished  one  correction. 

hThe  extreme  ends  of  the  first  two  lines  show  remains  of  the  titulary. 

'Both  the  following  context  and  the  remains  seen  by  Schaefer  render  this 
restoration  probable,  if  not  certain. 

■tThe  published  'nj'/,  “goals,"  is  an  error;  original  has  y^wt  (Schaefer’s 
copy). 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


1 88 


[§4*9 


the  gods  of  every  country,  while  they  caused  the  great  chiefs  of  every 

country  to  convey  - their  —  themselves  to  King  Ramses  (II), 

given  life.  ” - to  convey  their  gold,  to  convey  their  silver,  to 

convey  their  vessels  of  green  “[stone  to  ELing]  Ramses  (II),  given  life; 

to  bring  their  herds  of  horses,  to  bring  their  herds  of  *3 - their 

herds  of  goats,  to  bring  their  herds  of  large  cattle.  The  children  of  the 
great  chiefs  of  the  land  of  Kheta  *^came®  bearing  them  themselves, 
from  the  boundaries  of  the  lands  of  King  Ramses  (II),  given  life,  — 
themselves.  It  was  not  a  prince  who  came  to  bring  them,  it  was  not 
the  infantry  who  came  to  bring  them,  k  was  not  the  chariotry  who 
came  to  bring  them,  it  was  not  *^the  ^mercenariesi  who  went  to  bring 
them;  it  was  Ptah,  father  of  the  gods,  who  has  put  all  lands,  and  all 
countries  under  the  feet  of  this  Good  God,  forever  and  ever. 

V.  BENTRESH  STELA** 

429*  It  is  clear  that  the  visit  of  the  Hittite  king  to  Egypt 
was  for  the  purpose  of  personally  presenting  his  daughter  to 
Ramses  II  in  marriage.  This  marriage  made  a  great  im¬ 
pression  upon  the  people,  and  the  story  of  it  circulated 
among  them  as  the  introduction  to  a  legend  which  had 
grown  up  from  another  incident  closely  connected  with  the 
marriage.  In  the  Eighteenth  D)masty,  Dushratta,  king  of 
Mitanni,  sent  to  Egypt  the  goddess  Ishtar  of  Ninevah,  in 
the  year  35  or  36  of  Amenhotep  III,'  doubtless  for  the  sake 


“Remains  of  the  determinative  of  the  verb  of  going  may  be  seen. 

^Discovered  by  Rosellini  in  a  small  temple  of  Graeco-Roman  age  now  perished, 
which  stood  by  the  Khonsu-temple  at  Karnak  (Erman,  Zeitschrijt  fUr  dgyptische 
Sprache^  1883,  58;  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  II,  48  f.;  but  when  first  seen  by 
Champollion  it  was  in  the  **  mines  du  Sud-Est”  (Champollion,  Notices  descripHves, 
II,  280) .  It  was  carried  to  Paris  by  Prisse,  and  is  now  in  the  Biblioth^que  Nationale. 
It  was  published  by  him  {Monuments  igyptienSy  XXIV)  afterwards  from  Cham- 
pollion’s  copy  {Notices  descriptiveSy  II,  280-90);  Birch,  Egyptian  TextSy  77-81; 
Roug^,  Etude  sur  une  stble  bgyptienne  appartenant  A  la  Bibliothbque  ImpirialCy  Paris, 
1858  {extrait  du  Journal  AsiatiquCy  August,  1856;  August,  1857,  June  and  August 
to  September,  1858;  Rheinisch,  Chrestomathicy  Tai.  12;  finally  Ledrain,  Les  monu¬ 
ments  Eg.  de  la  Bib.  Nat.y  PI.  36-44.  The  publications  contain  a  number  of 
inaccuracies,  and  it  was  possible  to  correct  a  good  many  errors  from  my  own 
copy  of  the  original,  now  in  the  Bibliothfeque  Nationale  at  Paris. 

^Amarna  Letter Sy  ed.  Winckler,  20,  13-29. 


1430]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  189 


of  the  old  king’s  health;®  she  had  likewise  gone  to  Egypt 
in  the  time  of  Dushratta’s  father.  The  chief  of  Kheta  sent 
in  like  manner  to  Eg)^t,  desiring  that  Khonsu  be  brought 
to  Kheta  for  the  purpose  of  healing  his  daughter,  the  younger 
sister  of  Ramses’  queen,  Matnefrure.  This  was  done,** 
and  although  no  contemporary  record  of  the  incident  has 
survived,  it  gradually  found  place  among  the  folk-tales  of 
the  time. 

430.  Some  eight  or  nine  hundred  years  later,  in  Persian 
or  early  Greek  times,  the  priests  of  Khonsu  at  Thebes  deter¬ 
mined  to  record  the  story  to  the  greater  glory  of  their  god. 
They  put  the  current  tale  into  language  as  archaic  as  they 
could  command,  and  engraved  it  upon  a  stela,  which  is  now 
our  source  for  the  document.®  In  doing  this  they  evidently 
found  some  difficulty.  The  current  version,  of  course, 
spoke  of  the  king  only  as  Ramses  or  Ramses-Meriamon. 
The  priests,  desiring  to  lend  an  official  air  to  their  stela, 
attempted  to  prefix  to  the  king’s  name  his  full  titulary,  and 
in  doing  so  used  that  of  Thutmose  IV!  Nor  was  their 
knowledge  sufficient  to  correct  the  errors  or  remove  the 
absurdities  of  the  popular  version  of  the  story.  They  con¬ 
sistently  carry  through  seventeen  months  as  the  length  of 
time  necessary  to  go  from  Egypt  to  Bekhten'^  (Bfftn),  a 
land  otherwise  unknown;  Nefrure,  a  corruption  of  Matne¬ 
frure,  the  real  name  of  the  Hittite  chief’s  daughter;  a  date 
before  the  year  23  for  the  marriage  of  Matnefrure,  which 


•See  Meyer,  Festschrift  fiir  Georg  Ebers,  65,  66. 

tradition  of  the  visit  of  an  Egyptian  god  in  Syria  is  preserved  in  Macrobius; 
see  Birch,  Zeitschrift  fiir  dgyptische  Sprache,  1874,  67  f. 

cThe  real  age  and  origin  of  the  Bentresh  Stela  were  first  noticed  by  Erman 
{Zeitschrift  fiir  dgyptische  Sprache,  1883,  54  ff.),  but  as  the  earlier  case  of  Ishtar 
{Amarna  Letters,  ed.  WinckJer,  20)  was  then  unknown,  Erman  naturally  denied 
the  content  of  the  stela  much  of  an  historical  basis. 
dA  corruption  of  Bactria  ? 


190 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[5431 


really  took  place  in  the  year  34 — these  and  other  errors, 
which  will  be  evident  to  the  reader,  were  calmly  accepted 
by  the  priestly  editors.  Incidentally,  this  document  there¬ 
fore  shows  clearly  how  utterly  ignorant  of  earlier  Egyptian 
history  were  these  late  priests;  and  suggests  caution  in  the 
use  of  the  priest  Manetho’s  work,  who  lived  at  about  the 
time  when  this  tale  was  put  into  writing. 

431.  The  upper  fourth  of  the  stela  is  occupied  by  a  relief, 
showing  on  either  side  the  two  sacred  barques  of  the  Khonsu’s 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  priests.  That  on  the  right  is 
Khonsu-in-Thebes-Beautiful-Rest,  to  whom  Ramses  II  is 
offering  incense;  while  that  on  the  left  belongs  to  “Khonsu- 
the-Plan-Maker-in-Thebes,  Great  God,  Smiter  0}  Evil  Spirits.” 
Before  him  his  priest,  offering  incense,  is  accompanied  by 
the  inscription: 

432.  The  name  of  the  prophet,  priest  of  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker- 
in-Thebes,  is  ELhonsuhetneterneb  (^nsw-h^ t-ntr-nb  t,  sic!).“ 

Below  the  relief  is  the  long  inscription,  as  follows: 

Introduction 

433.  'Homs:  Mighty  Bull,  Likeness  of  Diadems,  Abiding  in  King- 
ship,  like  Atum;  Golden  Homs:  Mighty  of  Strength,  Expelling  the 
Nine  Bows;'’  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands: 
Usermare-Setepnere;  Son  of  Re,  of  his  Body:  Ramses-Meriamon, 

“beloved  of  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  and  all  the  gods  of  Thebes . 

4 . c 

Tribute  in  Naharin 

434.  Lo,  his  majesty  was  in  Naharin  {N-h-r-{n^  according  to  his 
yearly  custom,  while  the  chiefs  of  every  country  came  bowing  down  in 


“Meaning:  “Kkonsu  is  chief  of  all  gods.”  The  form,  both  of  this  name  and 
this  short  inscription,  is  unknown  in  the  time  of  Ramses  II. 

VThese  three  names  (the  second  title,  “Favorite  of  the  Two  Goddesses,”  has 
been  omitted  before  “Abiding,  etc.”)  are  those  of  Thutmose  IV 1  The  last  two, 
however,  show  clearly  that  Ramses  II  is  meant. 

<The  usual  epitheta  of  the  kings,  running  through  U.  2-4  (beginning). 


§436]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  191 


peace,  because  of  the  fame  of  his  majesty.  From  the  marshes*  was 
their  tribute;  silver,  gold,  lapis  lazuli,  smalachite  and  every  sweet 
wood  of  Grod’s-Land  were  upon  their  backs,  each  one  leading  his  neigh¬ 
bor. 

Marriage  of  Ramses  and  Chief  of  Bekhten^s  Daughter 

435.  Then  the  chief  of  Bekhten  (Bfpin)  caused  his  tribute  to  be 
brought,  and  he  placed  his  eldest  daughter  in  front  thereof,^  praising 
his  majesty,  and  craving  life  from  him.  Now,  ^she  was  exceedingly 
beautiful  to  the  heart  of  his  majesty,  beyond  everything.  Then  they 
affixed^  her  titulary  as:  “Great  King’s  -  Wif  e,  Nefrure  (AT/rw;-/? 
When  his  majesty  arrived  in  Egypt,  she  fulfilled  all  the  functions  of 
king’s-wife. 

Arrival  of  the  Messenger  from  Bekhten 

436.  When  the  year  23,  the  tenth  month,  the  twenty-second  day, 
came,  while  his  majesty  was  in  Thebes,  the  victorious,  the  mistress  of 
cities,  performing  ^the  pleasing  ceremonies  of  his  father,  Amon-Re, 
lord  of  Thebes,  at  his  beautiful  feast  of  Southern  Opet  (Luxor),  his 
favorite  seat,  of  the  beginning  (of  the  world),  came  one  to  say  to  his 
majesty:  “A  messenger  of  the  chief  of  Bekhten  has  come,  bearing 
many  gifts  for  the  King’s-Wife.”  Then  he  was  brought  ^before  his 
majesty  together  with  his  gifts.  He  said,  praising  his  majesty:  “Praise 
to  thee.  Sun  of  the  Nine  Bows!  Give  us  life  from  thee.”  So  spake 
he,  smelling  the  earth  before  his  majesty.  He  spake  again  before  his 
majesty:  “I  come  to  thee,  king,  my  lord,  on  account  of  Bentresh 
(B-n-t-r-S),  thy  great®  sister  of  the  King’s- Wife,  Nefrure.  Sickness  has 
penetrated  into^  her  limbs.  May  thy  majesty  send  a  wise  man  to  see 
her.” 


»At  the  northern  limits  of  the  earth.  The  division  may  be  wrong  here;  **frotn 
the  marshes'*  goes  better  with  the  verb  **came**  but  too  much  seems  to  intervene. 
The  following  would  then  be:  “  Their  tribute,  silver,  etc.,  were  upon  their,  etc.** 
'^Exactly  as  in  the  documents  on  the  coming  of  Matnefrure,  especially  the 
Ptah  Stela  (§  410),  with  which  the  above  passage  is  also  in  verbal  agreement. 

cTo  all  seals  and  documents;  that  is,  she  takes  an  official  Egyptian  name 
on  becoming  a  queen.  On  the  use  of  this  word  affix**  (wd),  see  my  New  Chapter 
(Sethe,  Untersuchungen,  II,  2,  19,  20). 

dThis  is,  of  course,  an  error  of  the  late  priests  for  M  *'t-nfr'w-R%  the  real 
name  of  the  Hittite  king’s  daughter  (}  417). 

•Possibly  to  be  rendered  oldest.** 

^Lit.,  ^^has  mingled  with.** 


192 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


§4371 


Dispatch  0}  the  Wise  Man  to  Bekhten 

437.  Then  said  his  majesty:  “Bring  to  me  the  sacred  scribes®  and 
the  officials  *®of  the  court.”  They  were  led  to  him  immediately.  Said 
his  majesty:  “Let  one  read  to  you,  till  ye  hear  this  thing.  Then  bring 
to  me  one  experienced  in  his  heart,  who  can  write  with  his  fingers, 
from  your  midst.”  The  king’s-scribe,  **Thutemhab,^  came  before  his 
majesty,  and  his  majesty  commanded  that  he  go  to  Bekhten  together 
with  this  messenger. 

Arrival  oj  the  Wise  Man  in  Bekhten 

438.  The  wise  man  arrived  in  Bekhten;  he  found  Bentresh  in  the 
condition  of  one  possessed  of  a  spirit.  He  found  **her*^  *'unable*  to  con¬ 
tend  with  him. 

Message  of  the  Chief  of  Bekhten  to  Ramses 

439.  The  chief  of  Bekhten  repeated  in  the  presence  of  his  majesty,^ 
saying:  “O  king,  my  lord,  let  his  majesty  command  to  have  this  god 

brought  - .”®  fThen  the  wise  man  whom  his  majesty  had 

sent,  returned!]  *3to  his  majesty  in  the  year  26,  the  ninth  month,  at  the 
feast  of  Amon,^  while  his  majesty  was  in  Thebes. 


^Tt  fU  pr  <  wjt—lit.,  **  those  in  charge  of  the  writings  of  the  house  of  life'*  a 
title  especially  common  in  Ptolemaic  times.  In  the  Canopus  Decree  it  is  rendered 
by  the  Greek  ol  Upoypafifiareis. 

hA  man  of  this  name  and  of  the  same  office  lived  in  the  time  of  Ramses  II, 
and  his  stela  is  in  Leyden  (lieblein,  884;  Erman,  Zeitschrift  filr  dgyptische  Sprache, 
*883, 55). 

^Sw  for  sy;  several  words,  now  no  longer  visible  on  the  stone  here,  were  seen 
and  copied  by  Prisse,  but  more  correctly  by  Rheinisch. 

dThis  alone  would  indicate  that  the  chief  of  Bekhten,  finding  the  wise  man 
unable  to  cast  out  the  spirit,  went  himself  to  Egypt  to  ask  that  the  god  be  sent  to 
do  so.  The  loss  between  the  two  parts  of  the  stela,  just  below  this  point,  makes 
it  difficult  to  trace  the  connection,  but  it  seems  more  probable  that  the  words  of 
the  chief  of  Bekhten  are  a  message,  sent  by  the  returning  wise  man  to  Ramses, 
for  it  is  clear  that  he  received  some  message  at  the  beginning  of  1.  13;  and,  further, 
the  chief  of  Bekhten  is  found  in  Bekhten  by  the  god  on  his  arrival  there.  The 
chief  therefore  certainly  remained  in  Bekhten. 

•Lacuna  of  uncertain  length,  between  the  two  fragments  of  the  stela. 

^As  the  god  later  consumes  one  year  and  five  months  (1. 17)  in  going  to  Bekhten, 
the  round  trip  between  Egypt  and  Bekhten  should  take  some  thirty-four  months. 
This  exactly  suits  the  above  passage,  according  to  which  the  returning  wise  man 
has  been  absent  nearly  three  years,  which  allows  for  a  short  stay  in  Bekhten. 


§444]  EGYPTO-HITTITE  RELATIONS  AFTER  WAR  193 


Ramses'  Interview  with  the  Two  Khonsu's 

440.  Then  his  majesty  repeated  (it)  before  Khonsu-in-Thebes- 
Beautiful-Rest,  saying:  “O  my  good  lord,  I  repeat  before  thee  concern¬ 
ing  the  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Bekhten.”  ^^Then  they  led  Khonsu- 
in-Thebes-Beautiful-Rest  to  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker,  the  great  god, 
smiting  the  evil  spirits.  Then  said  his  majesty  before  Khonsu-in- 
Thebes-Beautiful-Rest:  ‘‘O  thou  good  lord,  if  thou  inclinest  thy  face 
to  Klhonsu-*5the-Plan-Maker,  the  great  god,  smiting  the  evil  spirits, 
he  shall  be  conveyed  to  Bekhten.”  There  was  violent  nodding.  Then 
said  his  majesty:  “Send  thy  protection  with  him,  that  I  may  cause  his 
majesty®  to  go  to  Bekhten,  to  save  the  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Bekhten.** 
*^Khonsu-in-Thebes-Beautiful-Rest  nodded  the  head  violently.  Then 
he  wrought  the  protection  of  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker-in-Thebes,  four 
times. 

Departure  of  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker 

441.  His  majesty  commanded  to  cause  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker-in- 
Thebes  to  proceed  to  a  great  ship,  five  transports  {kk‘t)y  numerous 
chariots  *^and  horses  of  the  west  and  the  east. 

Arrival  of  the  God  in  Bekhten 

442.  This  god  arrived  in  Bekhten  in  a  full  year  and  five  months. 
Then  the  chief  of  Bekhten  came,  with  his  soldiers  and  his  nobles, 
before  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker.  He  threw  himself  **upon  his  belly, 
saying:  “Thou  comest  to  us,  thou  art  welcome  with  us,  by  command 
of  the  Eling  Usermare-Setepnere  (Ramses  II).” 

Cure  of  Bentresh 

443.  Then  this  god  went  to  the  place  where  Bentresh  was.  Then 
he  wrought  the  protection  of  the  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Bekhten. 
She  became  well  ^^>immediately. 

Conciliation  of  the  Spirit 

444.  Then  said  this  spirit  which  was  in  her  before  Khonsu-the- 
Plan-Maker-in-Thebes:  “Thou  comest  in  peace,  thou  great  god,  smiting 
the  barbarians.  Thy  city  is  Bekhten,  thy  servants  are  its  people,  I 
am  thy  servant.  will  go  to  the  place  whence  I  came,  to  satisfy  thy 


^Meaning  the  god. 


194  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [§445 


heart  concerning  that,  on  account  of  which  thou  comest.  (But)  let 
thy  majesty  command  to  celebrate  a  feast-day  with  me  and  with  the 
chief  of  Bekhten.”  Then  this  god  nodded  to  his  priest,  sa)dng:  **‘‘Let 
the  chief  of  Bekhten  make  a  great  offering  before  this  spirit.”  While 
these  things  were  happening,  which  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker-in-Thebes 
wrought  with  the  spirit,  the  chief  of  Bekhten  stood  with  his  soldia*s, 
and  feared  very  greatly.  Then  *%e  made  a  great  offering  before 
Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker-in-Thebes  and  the  spirit;  and  the  chief  of 
Bekhten  celebrated  a  feast-day  ^with^  them.  Then  the  spirit  departed 
in  peace  to  the  place  he  desired,  by  command  of  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker- 
in-Thebes,  *3and  the  chief  of  Bekhten  rejoiced  very  greatly,  together 
with  every  man  who  was  in  Bekhten. 

Retention  of  the  God  in  Bekhten 

445.  Then  he  took  counsel  with  his  heart,  saying:  ‘‘I  will  cause 
this  god  to  remain  with  me  in  Bekhten;  I  will  not  permit  that  he  return 
to  Egypt.”  ^^Then  this  god  tarried  three  years  and  nine  months  in 
Bekhten. 

Vision  of  the  Chief  of  Bekhten 

Then  the  chief  of  Bekhten  slept  upon  his  bed,  and  he  saw  this  god 
coming  to  him,  to  forsake  his  shrine;  he  was  a  hawk  of  gold,  and  he 
flew  upward  toward  Egypt.  *5He  (the  chief)  awoke  in  fright. 

Departure  of  the  God  for  Egypt 

446.  Then  he  said  to  the  priest  of  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker-in- 
Thebes:  “This  god,  he  is  still  with  us;  let  him  depart  to  Egypt;  let 
his  chariot  depart  to  Egypt.”  *®Then  the  chief  of  Bekhten  caused  this 
god  to  proceed  to  Egypt,  and  gave  to  him  very  many  gifts  of  every 
good  thing,  very  many  soldiers  and  horses. 

Arrival  of  the  God  in  Egypt 

447.  They  arrived  in  peace  at  Thebes.  Then  came  the  city  of 
Thebes,  and  Hhe-Plan-Maker-in-Thebes  *7to  the  house  of  Khonsu-in- 
Thebes-Beautiful-Rest.  He  set  the  gifts  which  the  chief  of  Bekhten 
had  given  to  him,  of  good  things,  before  Khonsu-in-Thebes-Beautiful- 
Rest,  (but)  he  gave  not  every  thing  thereof  into  his  house.  Khonsu-the- 


•Khonsu  has  probably  been  omitted  by  mistake. 


5448] 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


195 


Plan-Maker-in-Thebes  arrived  ’®[at]  his  [pkc]e  in  peace  in  the  year  33, 
the  second  month,  the  ninth  day,®  of  King  Usermare-Setepnere;  that 
he  might  be  given  life  like  Re,  forever. 


NUBIAN  WARS  AND  REFERENCES  TO  NORTHERN  WARS 

448.  The  temples  of  Nubia  contain  many  references  of 
an  indefinite  character  to  Ramses  II’s  Nubian  wars,  from 
which  it  is  impossible  to  gain  any  idea  of  them,  the  localities 
conquered,  or  the  date  of  the  campaigns.  These  references 
are  often  so  mingled  with  those  of  the  northern  wars  against 
the  Asiatics  and  Libyans  that  it  is  not  possible  to  separate 
and  classify  them  all.  They  are  continued  through  the 
temples  of  Egypt  also.**  Of  the  Libyan  war  we  learn  little 
more  than  the  fact,  though  the  Tanis  Stela  furnishes  an 
important  hint  of  an  alliance  of  the  Libyans  with  the  Sher- 
den  and  a  naval  battle'  (§491).  To  our  knowledge  of 

»The  round  trip  consumed  34  months  (i  year  and  5  months  each  way,  1.  17), 
and  he  had  remained  in  Bekhten  45  months  (1.  24),  a  total  absence  of  79  months, 
or  6  years  and  7  months.  As  he  left  Egypt  in  the  ninth  month  of  the  year  26  (1. 13, 
date  of  wise  man’s  return  to  summon  him),  if  that  date  be  late  in  the  year  26,  an 
absence  of  6  years  and  7  months  would  put  his  return  in  the  year  33,  as  the  priestly 
author  of  the  inscription  has  done. 

'^Scenes  showing  Ramses  sacrificing  foreign  captives  of  the  north  and  south 
are  found  in  practically  all  his  temples;  e.  g.,  at  the  Ramesseum  (Lepsius,  Denk- 
mdleff  III,  159,  6),  where  we  find  beside  the  scene  the  words:  Slaying  their  chiefs, 
making  them  as  if  they  had  not  been;**  and  again:  “  The  chiefs  of  the  countries  of 
the  south  and  the  north,  whom  his  majesty  carried  away  as  living  captives**  On 
his  obelisks  also  there  are  very  general  references  to  his  wars;  thus  at  Tanis  (Petrie, 
Tanis,  I,  VII,  No.  45)  he  is  called  one,  **  capturing  Nubia  by  his  valor,  wasting 
Tehenu;**  and  great  in  valor  like  a  bull  in  Retenu;**  again  {ibid..  No.  47):  “car- 
rying  off  the  chiefs  of  Retenu  as  living  prisoners,  crushing  the  land  of  Kheta**  At 
Kurna,  in  the  temple,  some  divinity  addressed  Ramses  thus  (Piehl,  Inscriptions,  I, 

145  A) :  “ - the  gods  of  Khenthennofer  and  Wawat  in  their  nomes,  and  lands; 

the  chiefs  of  God*s~Land,  who  fashion  every  splendid  costly  stone  for  their  son, 

Ramses  II - lapis  lazuli  of  Tefrer,  every  costly  stone  that  is  in  the  two 

mountains,  the  products  of  Nun.  The  subjects  of  the  Negroes  come  to  thee  ^by  land 
and  water,  bringing^  down-stream  all  the  reckonings  of  Nubia  in  the  records  of  Thoth, 
in  order  to  make  festive  the  temple  of  thy  father,  Amon,  lord  of  gods.**  (See  also 
DUmichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  II,  38.) 

cThe  hymn  to  Ramses  II,  in  Papyrus  Anastasi  II,  says:  ** Libya  falls  before 
his]  sword**  (III,  4). 


196 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[5449 


the  Asiatic  wars  nothing  definite  is  added.  The  materials 
are: 

I.  Abu  Simbel  Temple  (§§449-57)- 

II.  Bet  el-Walli  Temple  (§§458-77). 

III.  Assuan  Stela  (§§478,  479)- 

IV.  Luxor  Temple  (§§480-84). 

V.  Abydos  Temple  (§§485,  486). 

VI.  Tanis  Stelae  (§§  487-91). 

I.  ABU  SIMBEL  TEMPLE 

449.  The  following  scenes*  in  the  great  temple  at  Abu 
Simbel  contain  references  to  Ramses  II’s  Asiatic  wars,  a 
war  against  the  Libyans,  and  the  Nubian  war. 

Scene^ 

450.  Ramses  II,  with  bow  and  sword  in  hand,  rides 
slowly  in  his  chariot,  evidently  accompanying  his  army  on 
the  march.  Beside  his  horses  runs  his  tame  lion,  while  an 
orderly  with  bow,  quiver,  and  staff,  his  sandals  strung  on 
his  arm,  marches  at  the  horses’  heads.  Before  them  are 
driven  two  lines  of  bound  Negro  prisoners. 

Inscription 

451.  Good  God  f — *,  who  smites  the  south,  who  crushes  the  north; 
king,  fighting  with  his  sword,  carrying  oS  the  furthest  ends”  of  those 
who  transgress  his  inviolable  ^places*.  When  his  majesty  arrives  in 
the  countries,  he  overthrows  myriads;  he  desolates  them.  He  has  — 
Retenu,  slaying  their  chiefs;  he  causes  the  Negroes  to  say:  “Away! 
He  is  like  flame,  when  it  comes  forth,  and  there  is  no  water  to  quench 


•The  publications  will  be  found  with  each  scene.  The  great  battle  scene  of 
Kadesh  will  be  found  in  55  335-38- 

•"Champollion,  Monuments,  15,  16  —  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  84,  85: 
Champollion,  Monuments,  also  adds  (PI.  i6  bis)  two  Negro  heads,  in  full  size  of 
original. 

cThcre  is  possibly  a  lacuna  here. 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


197 


§455] 


it.”  He  makes  the  rebels  to  cease  the  contradiction  which  their  mouths 
offered,  when  he  took  them. 

Scene^ 

452.  Ramses  II,  with  bow  in  hand,  leads  two  lines  of 
captive  Negroes,  and  presents  them  to  Amon,  Mut,  and 
Khonsu. 

Inscription  over  Ramses  and  Negroes 

453.  The  bringing  of  the  tribute,  by  the  Good  God,  to  his  father, 
Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  after  his  arrival  from  the  country  of  Kush, 
overthrowing  the  rebellious  countries,  crushing  the  Asiatics  in  their 
place;  consisting  of  silver,  gold,  lapis  lazuli,  malachite,  and  every 
splendid  costly  stone,  according  as  he  decreed  for  him  might  and  victory 
against  every  country. 

The  wretched  chiefs  of  Kush,  whom  his  majesty  brought  from  his 
victories  in  the  country  of  Kush,  in  order  to  fill  the  storehouse  of  his 
august  father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  according  as  he  gave  might 
against  the  south,  victory  against  the  north,  forever  and  ever. 

Scene^ 

454.  Ramses  II,  with  drawn  bow,  stands  in  his  chariot, 
charging  a  Syrian  city,  situated  on  a  hill.  The  inhabitants  on 
the  city  walls  are  nearly  all  pierced  with  arrows;  just  out¬ 
side,  a  fleeing  Syrian  drives  off  his  cattle  to  refuge  in  the 
city.  Behind  Ramses,  three  princes  dash  forward,  each  in 
his  chariot. 

Inscription  over  Ramses 

455.  Good  God,  valiant  son  of  Amon,  lord  of  the  sword,  protector 
of  his  army  ^in^  battle,  mighty  in  strength,  knowing  where  to  place  his 
hand,  firm  in  the  chariot  like  the  lord  of  Thebes,  lord  of  victory,  fighting 
millions,  mighty  Bull  among  multitudes,  piercing  through  the  allies. 


aCharapollion,  Monuments^  35  —  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  86  (both  without 
inscription  over  Ramses  and  Negroes);  Champollion,  Notices  descriptiveSf  I,  66; 
Lepsius,  Denkmaler,  HI,  188,  a. 

^Champollion,  Monuments^  12-14— Rosellini,  Monumenti  Slorici^  80-82  — 
Gau,  AfUiquites  de  la  NuhiCf  61. 


198  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II  [§456 


crushing  the  rebellious  upon  the  mountains;  they  enter  into  their 
valleys  like  grasshoppers.  Thou  makest  the  sword  to  cut  off  their 
place,  i^where*  thy  enemies  come  forth,  O  king,  mighty  of  sword. 

Over  Three  Princes 

456.  King’s>son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Amenhirkhepeshef. 

King^s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Ramses. 

King's-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved  Perehirunamef. 

Scene^ 

457.  Ramses  II,  standing  over  a  fallen  Libyan,  hurls 
backward  another  Libyan,  whom  he  is  thrusting  through 
with  his  spear. 

Inscription 

The  Good  God,  slaying  the  Nine  Bows,  crushing  the  countries  of 
the  north,  —  valiant  in  the  countries,  a  mighty  swordman,  like  Montu, 
bringing  the  land  of  the  Negroes  to  the  land  of  the  north,  the  Asiatics 
the  land  of  Nubia.  He  has  placed  the  Shasu  (5  ^  -s  into 
the  land  of  — ,  he  has  settled  the  Tehenu  on  the  heights,  filling  the  strong¬ 
holds,  which  he  built,  with  the  captivity  of  his  mighty  sword,  Tslayingi 
Kharu  {ff  '^.-rw),  ^wastingi  Retenu  {Rtnw)^  which  his  sword  overthrew. 

II.  BET  EL-WALLI  TEMPLE^' 

458.  The  impressive  reliefs  in  this  temple  represent  the 
northern  and  southern  wars  of  Ramses  II:  the  northern 
wars,  against  Asiatics  and  Libyans,  are  on  the  northern 
wall  of  the  forecourt,  and  the  southern  wars,  against  the 


»Champollion,  Monuments^  17-Rosellini,  MonumerUi  Siorici,  83.  The  scene 
is  copied  from  that  of  Seti  I  on  the  north  wall  of  Karnak  (Scene  XIII,  §§  123-32). 

^hese  scenes  are  cut  on  the  rock  side-walls  of  the  excavated  forecourt  of  the 
Bet  el-Walli  temple.  Young  published  the  complete  series  from  drawings  by 
Wilkinson  {Hieroglyphics^  81-87,  h)  An  effective  colored  reproduction  of  the 
ensemble  is  given  by  Bonomi-Arundale,  Antiquities,  PI.  38,  Figs.  155,  156;  the 
separate  scenes  are  published  by  Champollion,  Monuments,  63-73,  92,  No.  4 
Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  154;  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  65-75; 
Gau,  AntiquitSs  de  la  Nubie,  12,  14,  15;  and  fragments,  Lepsius,  DenkmOler,  III, 
176,  a,  b,  d,  e,  /,  g. 


}462] 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


199 


Nubians,  are  on  the  southern  wall.  Thus  each  series  indi¬ 
cates  by  its  position  the  locality  where  the  wars  it  depicts 
took  place.  In  each  series  the  movement  of  events  is  to¬ 
ward  the  temple  door,  where  the  king  sits  in  both  final 
scenes,  receiving  the  captives  from  his  wars. 

I.  NORTHERN  WARS 

459.  The  scenes  in  this  series  are  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively, 
symbolical,  and  therefore  do  not  depict  specific  events. 
They  were  evidently  devised  to  form  a  pendant  to  the  other 
series  on  the  southern  wall,  which  does  depict  an  actual 
Nubian  campaign. 

Scene^ 

460.  Ramses  II,  charging  in  his  chariot,  leans  over  and 
seizes  two  of  the  enemy  by  the  turban,  and  cuts  them  down 
with  his  sword;  before  him  the  mass  of  the  enemy  flees. 
They  are  bearded,  and  are  undoubtedly  Semites. 

Inscription 

461.  - valiant  son  of  Amon,  lord  of  the  sword,  protector  of 

his  army  in  battle,  mighty  against - his  hand,  firm  in  the  chariot, 

like  the  lord  of  Thebes, - victorious,  fighting  millions,  mighty 

Bull  among  myriads, - smiting  the  rebellious - . 

Scen^ 

462.  A  symbolic  scene  showing  an  Asiatic  city,  on  the 
walls  of  which  the  inhabitants  gather,  with  hands  uplifted, 
beseeching  mercy.  The  city  chief  or  petty  prince  in  the 
citadel  is  seized  by  the  gigantic  Ramses,  who  stands  over 
him  with  upraised  sword.  A  prince  (with  sidelock)  ad¬ 
vances  to  the  gate  with  a  battle  axe. 


»Champollion,  Monuments^  64—Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storiciy  67— Bonomi- 
Arundale,  AntiquUieSy  PI.  38,  Fig.  is6-Gau,  ArUiquUes  de  la  Nubie,  12,  14,  3. 

l>Chainpollion,  Monuments^  65-Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storiciy  68-Bonomi- 
Anindale,  PI.  38,  Fig.  156-Gau,  AntiquitSs  de  la  Nubicy  12,  14,  3. 


200 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[S463 


Inscriptions 

463*  The  inscriptions  have  all  perished*  except  the  words 
of  the  captured  chief : 

By  the  Citadel 

Said  the  wretched  chief, *’  in  magnifying  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands: 
- *  there  is  no  other  like  Baal,  O  ruler,  his  real  son,  forever.” 

Scene^ 

464.  Ramses  II  sla)rs  with  the  sword  a  Libyan*^  whom 
he  has  seized  by  the  hair  and  forced  to  the  knees.  A  hound 
leaps  upon  the  Libyan’s  hip.  Approaching  Ramses  in 
front,  with  uplifted  arms,  are  two  rows  of  officials,  now 
almost  vanished. 

Inscription  behind  Ramses 

465.  O  Good  God,  great  in  terror,  victorious  lion,  lord  of  the 
sword,  embracing  the  rebellious  lands  of  Tehenu  {Thnw)\  thy  sword 
has  overthrown  the  Nine  Bows,  slaying  him  who  is  beneath  thy  sandals, 
like  Re,  every  [day]  forever  and  ever. 

Before  Officials,  Upper  Row 

466.  Said  the  princes  who  are  in  the  presence  of  his  majesty,  in 

magnifying  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  “ - [inighjty  in  valor, 

victorious  when  thou  hast  shown  thy  might  among  the  rebellious - 

the  sun  shines  not  because  of  thy  rage  therein . . 

Before  Official,  Lower  Row 

467.  Said  the  fan-bearer  on  the  right  of  the  king,  prince,  —  real 
king^s-scribe,  his  beloved,  king’s-son,  Amenhirunamef,  in  fcelebrating^] 


•Fragments  of  three  columns  over  the  city  show  the  main  inscription  to  have 
been  of  the  usual  conventional  character. 

^The  absence  of  the  name  shows  the  purely  typical  character  of  the  scene. 

cChampollion,  MonumentSy  63='Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storicij  66— Bonomi- 
Arundale,  Antiquities,  PI.  38,  Fig.  156— Gau,  AntiquitSs  de  la  Nubie,  12,  14,  2. 

similar  scene  within  the  temple  (rear  wall,  Champollion,  Notices  descrip- 
tivesy  I,  151;  Lepsius,  Denkmaler,  III,  176,  c)  bears  the  words:  **Good  God,  slaying 
Tehenu,*^ 


§470 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


201 


the  praise  of  his  lord,  in  magnifying  his  might:  “ - in  the  coun¬ 
tries.  Thou  hast  slain  their  chiefs - 

Over  Hound 

Anath  ('  »#y)-is-Protection. 

Scene^ 

468.  Ramses  II,  standing,  battle  axe  and  bow  in  hand, 
grasps  three  Syrians  by  the  hair,  as  they  kneel  before  him. 
A  king’s-son  (from  his  dress),  doubtless  Amenhirunamef, 
leads  up  a  line  of  prisoners,  consisting  of  a  Libyan  and  three 
Asiatics. 

Inscriptions 

469.  The  inscriptions  have  all  disappeared  except  two 
short  lines: 

Behind  Ramses 

Thy  might  and  thy  victory  are  in  all  lands  and  all  countries;  thy 
terror  is  in  their  hearts. 

Scen^ 

470.  Ramses  II,  enthroned  in  state,  with  his  tame  lion 
by  his  side,  gives  audience  to  his  vizier  (from  the  costume), 
followed  by  six  officers;  and  to  his  son,  Amenhirunamef, 
leading  Asiatic  prisoners. 

Inscription  before  Vizier 

471.  Said  the  princes,  who  are  in  the  presence  of  his  majesty: 

“Praise  to  thee,  O  good  and  amiable  ruler,  son  of  Amon,  who  came 
forth  from  his  limbs.  When  thou  earnest  forth  upon  earth,  thou  wast 
like  Re  on  high . Black  land  (Egypt)  and  Red  land  (desert) 


•Champollion,  Monuments j  66,  67»Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  69,  70- 
Bonomi-Anindale,  Antiquities,  PI.  38,  Fig.  156 -Gau,  ArUiquiUs  de  la  Nubie, 
12,  14,  I. 

'>ChajnpolUon,  Monuments,  62-Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  65-Bonomi- 
Arundale,  Antiquities,  PI.  38,  Fig.  is6-Gau,  AntiquiUs  de  la  Nubie,  12,  14,  2. 

^Conventional  praise. 


202 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§47» 


are  under  thy  sandals;  Palestine  and  Kush  are  in  thy  grasp.  Egypt 
rejoices,  O  fgoodi  ruler,  because  thou  hast  extended  their  borders, 
forever.” 

Over  King's-Son 

The  fan-bearer  on  the  right  of  the  king,  prince,  real  king’s-scribe, 
his  beloved,  Amenhirunamef. 


n.  SOUTHERN  WAR 

472.  This  series  evidently  depicts  particular  events  in 
Ramses  II’s  Nubian  war.  When  this  war  took  place  it  is 
difficult  to  say  with  certainty,®  but  it  was  under  the  admin¬ 
istration  of  Amenemopet  as  viceroy  of  Kush,  and  must, 
therefore,  have  fallen  in  the  first  half  of  Ramses’  reign. 
The  scene  of  the  war  is  equally  uncertain.  The  three  lists® 
of  conquered  Nubian  countries  consist  of  unfamiliar  names, 
from  which  little  can  be  obtained  as  to  the  locality  of  the 
war.  Brugsch  thinks  that  the  Abu  Simbel  list  does  not 
extend  above  Napata.*^ 

Scene^ 

473.  Ramses,  standing  in  his  chariot  with  drawn  bow, 
charges  the  Negroes,  who  flee  in  a  horde  before  him  into  a 
palm  grove,  in  which  two  Negroes  lead  away  a  wounded 


aThere  is  a  current  statement  that  Ramses  II  was  viceroy  of  Ethiopia  before 
Seti  I’s  death,  and  that  the  battle  depicted  in  our  reliefs  took  place  then.  Not 
only  is  there  no  evidence  that  Ramses  II  was  ever  viceroy  of  Kush,  but  our  reliefs 
further  show  that  Amenemopet  was  viceroy  at  this  time. 

^The  Assuan  stela  (§§  478,  479),  which  is  dated  in  the  year  2,  may  possibly 
have  been  erected  on  this  campaign. 

cMariette,  Abydos,  II,  PI.  2,  a,  6,  PL  3;  and  a  list  of  six  names  at  Abu  Simbel 
(Lepsius,  Denkmdlerj  III,  194),  which  are  those  of  Negro  peoples,  in  spite  of  the 
beards  (see  Brugsch,  GeschichtCy  529,  and  346  f.  Nos.  25,  28,  and  77).  Southern 
countries  are  also  mentioned  on  the  Karnak  wall  (Lepsius,  DenkmiUery  III,  148,  d). 

^Brugsch,  Geschichte,  529,  note. 

®Champollion,  MonumefUs,  71,  72—Rosellini,  MonumerUi  Sioriciy  74,  75  — 
Bonomi-Arundale,  Gallery y  Fig.  155;  and  Lepsius,  DenkmiUery  III,  176,  a,  h. 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


203 


S475] 


comrade  to  his  family.  Behind  him  charge  two  princes  in 
their  chariots.® 

Inscriptions 

474-  An  inscription  over  the  enemy  has  disappeared, 

except  the  words:  ‘‘ -  those  who  transgress  his 

boundaries. Two  others  have  survived:^ 

Over  First  Prince 

Said  the  fan-bearer  on  the  right  of  the  king,  the  hereditary  prince, 

the  king’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  Amenhirunamef :  . in 

the  South;  I  rejoice,  my  heart  is  joyful,  (for)  my  father  smites  his 
enemies;  he  puts  forth  the  might  of  his  strength  against  the  Nine  Bows.^' 

Over  Second  Prince 

The  king’s-son,  of  his  body,  his  beloved,  the  divine  water  that  came 
forth  from  the  Mighty  Bull,  Klhamwese. 

Scene^ 

475.  On  the  right  sits  Ramses  enthroned;  approaching 
from  the  left  are  two  long  lines  of  Negroes,  bringing  furni¬ 
ture  of  ebony  and  ivory,  panther  hides,  gold  in  large  rings, 
bows,  myrrh,  shields,  elephants’  tusks,  billets  of  ebony, 
ostrich  feathers,  ostrich  eggs,  live  animals,  including  monkeys, 
panthers,  a  giraffe,  ibexes,  a  dog,  oxen  with  carved  horns, 
an  ostrich.  At  the  end  are  also  two  Negro  women,  one 
canying  her  children  in  a  basket.  Led  by  two  Egyptians 


*A  scene  inside  the  temple  shows  Ramses  II  smiting  a  Negro,  with  the  words: 

**Good  Gody  repulsing  the  Nine  Bows,  smiting  the  chiefs  of  Kushj  the  wretched.** 
(Lepsius,  DenkmiUery  III,  176,  d.) 

hin  Bonomi-Anmdale  are  the  fragments  of  a  text  over  the  palm  grove  in  which 

one  may  discern:  “ - ruler  like  Badly*  probably  belonging  to  words  of  the 

Negroes. 

cChampollion,  MonumentSy  68-70 —Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  71-73 -• 
Bonomi-Arundale,  Fig.  155;  and  Lepsius,  DenkmiUery  III,  176,  /-Gau,  AtUiqui- 
Us  de  la  Nubie,  15. 


304 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§476 


at  the  head  of  the  lower  line  are  two  bound  Negroes.  The 
lower  line  is  introduced  by  the  vizier,  and  two  officials, 
followed  by  the  viceroy  of  Kush,  bearing  a  table  hung  with 
skins  and  decorated  with  flowers.  At  the  head  of  the  upper 
row  (which  represents  the  scene  a  moment  after  that  of  the 
lower  row)  is  the  king’s-son,  Amenhirunamef,  presenting 
the  gifts  which  together  with  the  splendid  table  have  been 
placed  on  the  ground.  Behind  the  table  which  he  has  just 
set  down  appears  the  viceroy  of  Kush,  receiving  decorations 
for  good  service. 

Inscriptions 

476.  Behind  Ramses  are  four  columns  containing  an 
elaborate  titulary,  in  which  is  the  phrase:  ‘^making  bound¬ 
aries  as  he  pleases  in  Retenu.^’  The  other  texts  are  brief 
and  fragmentary. 

Over  Viceroy  of  Kush,  Lower  Row 

477.  King’  s-son  of  Kush,  Amenemopet,  son  of  Peser,  triumphant. 

Over  King^s-Son,  Top  Row 

The  fan-bearer  on  the  right  hand  of  the  king,  real  kingVscribe,  his 
beloved,  hereditary  prince,  first  king's-son,  of  his  body,  Amenhirunamef, 
triumphant,  revered  (sic!). 

Over  Viceroy  of  Kush,  Top  Row 

King’s-son  of  Kush,  Amenemopet,  son  of  Peser,  triumphant. 

ni.  ASSUAN  STELA® 

478.  This  monument  contains  only  a  fulsome  eulogy  of 
Ramses  II,  in  which  reference  is  made  to  all  his  wars.  Its 
position  at  the  Nubian  frontier  would  indicate  that  it  was 


»Cut  on  the  rocks  at  Assuan;  published  by  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  175, 
Roug^,  Inscriptions  hUroglyphiques,  252,  253,— de  Morgan,  Caialogue  des  monu- 
tnentSy  6. 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


205 


8480] 


erected  on  some  Nubian  expedition  of  Ramses  II,  and  its 
date,  ^^year  2,’’  may,  therefore,  be  that  of  the  Nubian  war, 
recorded  at  Bet  el-Walli. 

479.  I .  Year  2,  eleventh  month,  twenty-sixth*  day,  under  the  majesty 
of  *Ramses  II, ^  beloved  of  Amon-Re,  king  of  Gods,  and  Khnum,  lord 
of  the  cataract  region. 

3Live  the  Good  God,  Montu  of  millions,  mighty  like  the  son  of 
Nut,  fighting  for  strong-hearted  lion.  He  has  overthrown  ^myriads 
in  the  space  of  a  moment;  great  wall  of  his  army  in  the  day  of  battle, 
whose  fear  has  penetrated  all  lands.  ^Egypt  rejoices  when  the  ruler  is 
among  them  (i.  e.,  the  lands) ;  he  has  extended  its  boundaries  forever, 
plundering  the  Asiatics  (St  'tyw)  and  capturing  their  cities.  ^He  has 
crushed  the  foreigners  of  the  north,  the  Temeh®  have  fallen  for  fear  of 
him,  the  Asiatics  are  anxious  for  breath  from  him,  ^who  sends  Egypt 
on  campaigns;  their  hearts  are  filled  with  his  designs,  as  they  sit  in  the 
shadow  of  his  sword,  and  ®they  fear  not  any  country.  He  plunders  the 
warriors  {^h^  w)oi  the  sea,  the  great  lake  of  the  north,  while  they  lie 
sleeping.  vigilant  king,  accurate  in  design;  there  fails  not  any¬ 
thing  that  he  has  said.  The  foreigners  come  to  him  carrying  their 
children,  to  ask  *®the  breath  of  life;  his  battle-cry  is  mighty  Hn^  the 
land  of  Nubia  -pd't),  his  strength  repels  the  Nine  Bows;  Babylon 
^),  Kheta  and  A —  come  to  him,  bowing  down, 

because  of  his  fame. 


IV.  LUXOR  TEMPLE 

480.  Besides  the  reliefs  and  inscriptions  relating  to  the 
battle  of  Kadesh  (§§305-51),  the  Luxor  temple  contains  a 
number  of  references  to  Ramses  II’s  wars,  conquests,  and 
relations  with  foreign  countries.  On  a  granite  statue,® 
under  a  list  of  northern  and  southern  countries,  is  the  usual 
statement  of  the  extent  of  Pharaoh’s  power,  including  the 


aRoug^,  Inscriptions  hiSroglyphiques,  has  27. 

'>Full  titulary. 

cText  has  Ty-m-l^nwt  It  may  be  that  Tehenu  is  meant. 
dProbably  Arvad  or  Isy-Cyprus. 

^Recueily  16,  50,  51. 


2o6  nineteenth  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  H  [5481 

“Great  Circle  (Sn  wr),  the  sea,  the  southern  countries  0}  the 
land  of  the  Negro  as  far  as  the  marsh  lands,  as  far  as  the 
liptits  of  the  darkness,  even  to  the  four  pillars  of  heaven.” 

481.  More  important  is  a  scene  among  the  reliefs  which 
portrays  the  presentation  of  annual  dues*  by  the  king’s  sons 
and  the  chief  ofl&cials  of  the  kingdom.  These  dues  consist  of 
both  “tribute”  (yn-w)  and  taxes  or  impost  (bk  w),  besides 
“dues”  (hsb  t)]  and  they  come  from  Nubia,  Asia,  and 
Egypt.  At  the  head  of  the  procession  are  seventeen  sons 
of  Ramses,  of  whom  the  first  four  are: 

482.  I.  Hereditary  prince,  king’s-son,  crown  prince,  of  his  body, 
commander  in  chief  of  the  army,  Amonhirkhepeshef. 

2.  King’s-son,  of  his  body,  commander  of  the  army**  of  the  Lord  of 
the  Two  Lands,  Ramses. 

3.  Captain  of  archers,  master  of  horse,  Perehirunamef.® 

4.  Khamwese. 

483.  These  are  all  well  known  elsewhere,  especially 
Khamwese,  as  they  took  part  in  the  king’s  wars  (§362). 
The  thirteenth  in  the  row  is  Memeptah,  who,  on  the  death 
of  his  twelve  elder  brothers  and  his  father,  became  king. 

Behind  the  princes  is  a  line  of  men  bearing  “des  offrandes, 
conduisant  des  boeufs  k  comes  singuliferes  comme  k  Abydos.” 
Above  them  all  is  an  inscription,  designating  them  as: 

484.  The  hereditary  prince  •'of  the  palace^,  king’s-son,  crown 
prince;  fthe  king’s-sons^],  the  grandees  of  the  palace  f — W  their  lord, 
their  father,  Ramses  II,  given  life.  The  governors  of  the  city  and 

•Relief  and  accompanying  inscriptions  in  the  first  court  of  the  Luxor  temple, 
south  side;  Recueil,  XIV,  31,  L,  but  without  the  reliefs. 

'^Personal  troops  of  the  king. 

cA  list  of  seventeen  daughters  is  on  the  west  wall  of  this  court  {RecueU,  XIV, 
32).  They  are  preceded  by  the  first  three  sons  above,  but  No.  3  has  the  title, 
**  First  charioteer  of  his  majesty.'*  The  queen  Nefretiri  heads  the  line. 

dSome  verb  like  “come  to”  has  here  been  miscopied,  as  is  evident  from  the 
parallelism  with  the  second  group,  also  followed  by  the  name  of  Ramses  after  a 
verb  of  coming. 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


807 


{485] 


viziers,®  companions,  treasurers  of  the  palace,  overseers  of  the  silver- 
and  gold-house,  commanders  of  the  army,  commanders  of  ^Infantry* 
(mnfyt),  captains  of  archers,  ^master  builders^,  governors  of  southern 
and  northern  countries,  chief  treasurers,  chief  mayors,  stewards,  leaders 
of  leaders,  and  town  commandants,  overseers  of  horns,**  overseers  of 
hoofs,**  overseers  of  feathers,**  f — *  of  Egypt,  the  marshal  of  the  two 
thrones  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  the  counts,  and  superior  prophets, 
coming  with  bowed  head,  bearing  their  tribute  of  the  impost  of  Nubia 
every  product  of  Asiatic  countries,  the  dues  (hsb't)  of  Egypt, 
to  behold  the  beauty  of  their  lord.  King  Ramses  II. 

V.  ABYDOS  TEMPLE 

485.  Ramses  II’s  mortuary  temple  at  Abydos,  as  we  have 
already  noted,  contains  reliefs  from  the  Kadesh  series 
(§  328),  as  well  as  a  copy  of  the  Kadesh  poem  (§§  305-15). 
Besides  these,  the  mortuary  reliefs  also  contain  references 
to  his  wars.**  These  reliefs  show  a  long  procession  of  priests 
and  officers,  bringing  an  immense  and  varied  array  of  offer¬ 
ings  for  Ramses  II’s  mortuary  temple,  in  which  these  reliefs 
appear.  Like  others  of  their  class,  these  scenes  are  of 
purely  religious  and  mortuary  significance,  except  the  last.' 
This  represents  a  section  of  the  procession  headed  by  a 
superb  bull,  and  an  ibex;  these  animals,  with  their  attend¬ 
ants  and  some  lesser  offerings,  face  a  long  procession  in  a 
double  line  of  Egyptian  troops  who  are  summoned  by  a 


Governors**  is  clearly  plural,  but  vizier**  is  not  so  written;  the  relief  would 
probably  determine  whether  we  have  here  the  two  viziers. 

hLive-stock  and  poultry. 

cA  series  of  mortuary  reliefs  on  the  walls  of  the  first  court;  published  by 
Mariette,  Abydos,  II,  6-io. 

dMariette  indicates  other  historical  materials  in  this  temple;  he  says:  “La 
face  ant^rieure  du  pylone  semble  pr^enter  un  r6sum€  des  campagnes  de  Ramsbs. 
Le  roi  a  la  hache,  la  masse  d’armes,  et  Tenseigne  de  victoire.  Des  officiers  lui 
amhnent  des  prisonniers.  Aucun  personnage  n’est  visible  en  entier.  On  croit 
cependant  reconnaltre  des  Lybiens,  des  n^gres  et  des  Asiatiques.” 

•Mariette,  Abydos,  II,  PI.  lo;  long  inscription  also  Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  V, 
1222,  1223. 


2o8 _ NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  n  [}486 

trumpeter.  Four  men  at  the  head  of  the  troops  are  followed 
by  a  royal  span  drawing  an  empty  chariot,  accompanied  by 
an  orderly  with  sandals  strung  on  his  arm  as  usual.  Be¬ 
hind  the  troops  who  follow  the  chariot  are  Negroes,  Asiatics, 
Puntites,  and  perhaps  Libyans.  Over  the  whole  is  an 
inscription  in  one  long  line,  the  beginning  of  which  is  very 
fragmentary;  scattered  among  the  figures  were  also  some 
inscriptions,  most  of  which  have  now  disappeared: 

Over  Chariot  Horses 

486.  Great  span  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  (named):  “Beloved- 
_ » 


Over  Asiatics 

Chiefs  of  the  countries - . 


Long  Inscription 

. *  Utterance  of  the  Son  of  Re,  Ramses-Meriamon:  ‘‘O 

ye  Kings  of  Upper  and  Lower  Eg)rpt,  who  shall  come  after,  who  shall 
assume  the  double  crown  upon  the  throne  of  Homs,  who  shall  desire 
Abydos,  region  of  eternity;  may  your  ka’s  exist  for  you  without  ceasing, 
may  your  time  be  happy  like  my  time,  may  the  full  Nile  come  for  you 
at  his  season,  may  valor  be  yours  without  flinching,  like  the  victories 
of  my  sword  in  every  country,  may  ye  take  captive  those  that  rebel 
against  Egypt,  may  ye  put  those  whom  ye  capture  in  them,  into  my 
august  temple.  Lo,  as  for  a  king,  he  is  the  divine  seed,^  while  he  is 
a  dweller  in  heaven,  as  when  he  was  on  earth;  he  assumes  the  forms, 
which  he  desires,  like  the  Moon-god.  Establish  ye  the  offerings  of  this 
my  temple  of  Osiris,  whose  august  image  rests  therein,  the  divine  ennead 
which  follows  him,  being  united  at  his  side;  (then)  shall  favors  be 
craved  from  them,  making  sound  your  limbs.  An  excellent  reward 
shall  be  his  who  doeth  it,  according  as  ye  protect  my  house  for  its 
gods,  and  hearken  to  the  Good  God,  Ramses  II,  given  life.’' 


“The  mutilated  beginning  contained  an  address  to  Ramses  II. 
** divine  water'* 


8489] 


NUBIAN  AND  NORTHERN  WARS 


209 


VI.  TANK  STEL.® 

487.  The  Tanis  temple  contained  at  least  four  large 
granite  stelae  commemorating  Ramses  II’s  prowess  in  war. 
Of  two*  of  these  only  insignificant  fragments  have  survived; 
and  the  third'’  contains  a  conventional  encomium  much 
mutilated.  At  the  end  was  the  narrative  of  some  specific 
event,  of  which  the  following  is  discernible: 

He  (Ramses  II)  said  to  the  king’s-messenger  -  fortresses 

equipped  with  everything  for - . 

488.  The  fourth  stela*  is  almost  entirely  the  conventional 
praise  of  the  king’s  valor;  but  the  last  three  lines  contained 
a  reference  to  rebellious  Sherden  and  ships  of  war,  which 
would  indicate  a  naval  battle  in  connection  with  the  Libyan 
war,  with  whom  the  Sherden  were,  of  course,  allied. 

Ramses’  Valor 

489.  *Live  the  Homs,  Mighty  Bull . Ramses  (II), 

given  life,  ^forever,  victorious  king,  valiant  in  the  array,  mighty,  fighting 
myriads,  overthrowing  on  his  right,  slaying  on  his  left,  like  Set  in  his 
hour  of  rage,  3mighty  Bull,  shaking  every  opposing  country  with  the 
victories  of  his  sword;  protector  of  Egypt,  repulsing  the  Nine  Bows. 
Every  land  fears  before  him;  he  is  like  ^a  lion  when  he  has  tasted  com¬ 
bat;  no  land  can  stand  before  him.  King  Ramses  II;  charging  into  the 
array,  she  turns  not  back,  he  is  the  first  of  the  front  rank  of  his  army; 
valiant  upon  the  steed,  when  he  takes  his  bow,  shooting  on  his  right, 
and  he  who  stands  in  the  rear^  escapes  him  not;  mighty  in  strength, 
^ith  victorious  arm,  bearing  the  mace  and  the  shield;  crushing  the 
chiefs  beneath  his  feet;  no  one  is  able  to  sustain  the  combat,  every 
country  flees  before  him,  the  terror  of  him  is  like  fire  behind  them.® 


•Petrie,  TaniSy  II,  PI.  II,  76,  77.  ^Ihid.y  78,  bis. 

cRoug^,  Inscriptions  hiSroglyphiqueSy  68-70— Petrie,  Tanis,  II,  PI.  II,  78. 
Both  publications  show  many  errors,  for  which  each  furnishes  control  of  the  other; 
Roug6  has  even  omitted  half  a  line  (1.  8). 

^Lit.,  ** behind  the  land'' 


^TaniSt  II,  has:  **in  their  heart," 


210 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§490 


Triumphs  in  Asia  and  Nubia 

490.  ^King  Ramses  II,  given  life;  capturing  the  lands  of  the  Asiatics 
{St'tyw)  with  his  sword,  carrying  off  their  chiefs  as  living  captives; 

®great  ruler, - by  the  might  of  his  youthful  strength;  “brave- 

niearted^  before  the  mighty,  valiant  like  Montu,  defender  of  the  land, 
’husband  of  Egypt,  rescuing  her  from  every  country.  His  fame  is 

mighty  in - the  land  of  the  Negro,  with  valor,  slaying  the 

Troglodytes  of  wretched  Kush  *®in  the  victories  of  his  mighty  sword. 
He  causes  Egypt  to  be  joyful,  and  sets  gladness  of  heart  in  Tomeri 

(Egypt),  King  [Ramses  II]  - ;  "plundering  the  chiefs  of  the 

Asiatics  in  their  land.  He  has  wasted  the  inheritance  of  — ,  making 

them  to  be - ,  *  “slain  under  his  feet,  whose  great  sword  is  mighty 

among  them. 

Triumphs  in  the  West 

491.  He  has  captured  the  countries  of  the  West,  causing  them  to 

be  as  that  which  [is]  not - *3[Sute]kh  on  his  right,  of  the  battle. 

King  Ramses  II.  [He]  has  ferried  over'^  - [come]  him, 

bearing  their  tribute;  [his]  fear  fpenetratesi]  their  heart.  The  rebel¬ 
lious-hearted  Sherden®  (5^-f^-d-ny)  -  ^Hhem;  mighty - 

- ships  of  war  in  the  midst  of  the  fsea'']  - before  them. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 

492.  Although  the  name  of  Ramses  II  is  more  widely 
found  upon  the  monuments  of  Egypt  than  that  of  any  other 
king,  no  comprehensive  building  record  of  his,  such  as  those 


•The  remainder  of  1.  8  from  this  point  on  was  omitted  by  Roug^,  who  passes 
to  the  second  half  of  1.  9  which  he  represents  as  the  beginning  of  1.  9  land  of 
the  NegrOf  etc”). 

'^This  is  the  word  used  for  crossing  a  river;  it  probably  refers  to  a  crossing 
of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Nile  in  the  western  Delta  by  Ramses  or  his  western 
foes  (see  IV,  p.  49,  n.  b). 

cThe  Kadesh  poem  refers  to  the  capture  of  Sherden  before  that  campaign 
(§307)^  and  Papyrus  Anastasi  II  mentions  **the  Sherden  whom  thou  hast  taken 
in  thy  might”  (V,  2),  who  have  been  sent  as  Egyptian  mercenaries  against  the 
tribes  of  the  desert.”  The  reference  to  the  **  Sherden  of  the  sea,  who  are  of  the 
captivity  of  his  majesty”  may  belong  to  the  reign  of  Memeptah  (Anastasi  II, 
verso  of  PI.  8,  1.  i). 


5493] 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


2II 


of  thie  Eighteenth  D3niasty,  has  survived  to  us.  The  great 
inscription  of  Abydos  concerns  almost  solely  Seti  I’s  temple 
there,  which  is  chiefly  the  work  of  Seti  himself.  The  ac¬ 
count  of  Ramses  I’s  buildings  preserved  in  his  inscriptions 
is  therefore  but  a  slight  indication  of  the  vast  extent  of 
his  building  achievements;  and  this  fact  must  be  clearly 
borne  in  mind,  in  using  the  following  inscriptions.* 

493.  They  comprise: 

I.  Great  Temple  of  Abu  Simbel  (§§495-99). 

II.  Small  Temple  of  Abu  Simbel  (§§500,  501). 

III.  Temple  of  Serreh  (§  502). 

IV.  Temple  of  Derr  (§  503). 

V.  Temple  of  Sebfl  ^  a  (§  504). 

VI.  Temple  of  el  Kab  (§  505). 

VII.  Temple  of  Luxor  (§§506-8). 

VIII.  Temple  of  Kamak  (§§  509-13). 

IX.  The  Ramesseum  (§§514,  515). 

X.  Temple  of  Kuma  (§§  516-22). 

XI.  Seti  I’s  Temple  at  Abydos  and  Great  Abydos  In¬ 
scription  (§§262-77). 

XII.  Ramses  II’s  Temple  at  Abydos  (§§524-29). 

XIII.  Memphis  Temples  (§§530-37)  and  further: 

1.  Great  Abydos  Inscription  (§  260,  1.  22). 

2.  Blessing  of  Ptah  (§§412-413,  11.  32,  35). 

XIV.  City  of  Tanis  (Blessing  of  Ptah,  §406, 11.  16-18).^ 


apor  example,  in  Nubia  Ramses  II  built  at  least  six  new  temples:  (i)  Bet 
el-Walli;  (2)  Gerf  Husen;  (3)  Es-Sebd^a;  (4)  Derr;  (5)  Abu  Simbel  (large  temple); 
(6)  Abu  Simbel  (small  temple).  Of  these  I  was  able  to  find  the  dedication 
inscriptions  of  the  last  four  only. 

hPoetical  description  of  the  city  by  an  Egyptian  scribe:  Papyrus  Anastasi  II, 
PI.  I,  1.  i-Pl.  II,  1.  5  ^ihid.j  IV,  PI.  V,  PI.  VI,  IL  i-io.  It  is  in  this  passage  that 
the  message  of  the  chief  of  Kheta  (§§  425,  426)  to  the  chief  of  Kode  is  found  (cf. 
Chabas,  MHanges  Sgyptologiques,  2®  s^r.,  15 1.  Maspero,  Du  genre  Spistolaire, 
102;  Erman,  Aegypten,  242).  A  longer  description  of  the  city  in  a  similar  vein 
is  found  in  Papyrus  Anastasi  III,  PI.  1, 1.  ii-Pl.  Ill,  1. 9  (cf.  Chabas,  op,  cU.,  13a- 
34,  Maspero,  op,  cU.,  103-6;  Brugsch,  Geschichte,  545-48). 


212 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§494 


494.  Besides  the  above,  there  are  occasional  unimportant 
doorway  inscriptions,  giving  the  building  record  in  the 
conventional  form  as  at  Bet  el-Walli,  Kalabsheh*  or  a 
similar  statue  dedication  as  at  Sebh'a.  There  must  also 
be  a  number  of  architrave  dedication  inscriptions,  like  those 
of  the  Ramesseum,  which  are  still  unpublished. 

I.  GREAT  TEMPLE  OF  ABU  SIMBEL'" 

495.  This,  the  most  remarkable  of  the  grotto  temples  of 
Egypt,  was  already  far  advanced  in  its  construction,  in  the 
reign  of  Seti  I.  •  It  is  impossible  to  find  any  other  explanation 
of  the  fact  that  an  inscription  of  Ramses  II’s  first  year'  is 
found  in  the  doorway  at  the  rear  of  the  first  hall,  which 
connects  it  with  the  second  hall. 

496.  The  building  inscription  accompanies  a  relief^ 
showing  Ramses  II  enthroned,  with  an  official  named 
Ramses -eshahab  -ms-sw-^  S'^-hb)  bowing  before  him. 
The  inscription  shows  that  Ramses  II  is  instructing  him  to 
build  a  temple  in  honor  of  Horns  of  He,'  which  may  be 
some  other  temple  than  that  of  Abu  Simbel.  There  is  no 
mention  of  any  previous  work  by  Seti  I ;  and  the  interesting 
references  to  the  use  of  foreign  prisoners  in  the  work  might 
imply  that  it  was  done  after  the  wars  of  Ramses  had  begun. 


^Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions^  II,  59. 

^ee  ChampolUon,  Monuments,  3-37;  Notices  descriptives,  43-77;  Rosellini, 
Monutnenti  Storici,  114;  Gau,  AntiquUis  de  la  Nubie,  57-61;  Lepsius,  Denk^ 
mdler,  III,  185-193;  Dumichen,  Der  dgyptische  Felsentempel  von  Abu  Simbel, 
1869. 

cLepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  189,  a, 

6This  relief  has  been  published  (with  inscription)  only  in  Champollion,  Monu¬ 
ments,  9,  where  the  text  is  plainly  very  badly  copied.  Wiedemann  {Aegyptische 
Geschichte,  452,  453)  would  refer  this  inscription  to  some  other  as  yet  undiscovered 
building. 

«This  may  be  the  temple  of  Ramses  II  at  Serreh  (called  Aksche,  Lepsius, 
Denkmdler,  III,  191,  m,  n),  ten  miles  north  of  Wadi  Haifa  (Sayce,  Recueil,  XVII, 
163).  It  occurs  also  in  the  Middle  Kingdom;  see  I,  602. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


213 


5500] 


Before  the  said  officer  are  the  words: 

King’s-butler  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  Ramses-eshahab,  trium¬ 
phant;  he  says:  “As  for  all  that  comes  out  of  thy  mouth,  it  is  like  the 
words  of  Harakhte.” 

407.  A  longer  inscription  above  and  behind  him- is  intro¬ 
duced  by  the  full  fivefold  titulary  of  Ramses  II,  accom¬ 
panied  by  poetic  epithets,  such  as  “/te  who  spreads  out  his 
wings  over  his  army,'''  and  closing  appropriately  with 
maker  of  monuments  in  the  house  of  Horus,  his  august 
father''  The  inscription  then  proceeds: 

498.  Behold,  as  for  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  he  is  vigilant  in  seeking 
**every  profitable  occasion,  by  doing  excellent  things  for  his  father, 
Horus,  *®lord  of  He  {H  making  for  him  his  house  of  myriads  of  years, 
by  excavating  in  this  mountain  of  He,  fwhich  not]  one  before  IJdidi], 
except  the  son  of  ^^Amon,  lord  of  — .  His  might  is  in  all  lands;  bring¬ 
ing  for  him  multitudes  of  workmen  from  the  captivity  of  his  sword  in 
every  country.  He  has  filled  the  houses  (pr‘w)  of  the  gods  *<with  the 
children  of^  Rctenu  (Rinw),  ^Afterward  hei*  gave  orders®  to  the  king’s- 
butler,  Ramses-eshahab,  to  equip  the  land  of  Kush  anew  in  the  great 
name  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.  He  said:  ‘‘Praise  to  thee!  O  valiant 
king  of  Egypt,  sun  of  the  Nine  Bows.  There  is  no  rebel  in  thy  time, 
every  land  is  pacified.  Thy  father,  Amon,  has  decreed  for  thee  that 
every  land  be  beneath  thy  feet;  he  gives  to  thee  south  as  well  as  north, 
west  and  east,  and  the  isles  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

499.  A  dedication to  Harakhte  is  as  follows: 

Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Harakhte,* 
great  god,  lord  of  Nubia  (T’  -pd't). 

II.  SMALL  TEMPLE  OF  ABU  SIMBEL 

500.  The  smaller  grotto  temple  on  the  north  of  the  large 
temple  was  made  by  Ramses  II  for  his  queen,  Nefretiri,  as 
the  divinity  to  whom  it  was  dedicated: 

“Name  of  the  region  in  which  Abu  Simbel  is  located  (see  I,  602). 

The  chiefs  of”  is  probably  omitted.  cRead  rdy  m  hr  n. 

^Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions^  II,  29;  Lepsius,  DenkmiUer^  III,  187,  a,  6. 

«Variant:  *'Amon-Re,  king  of  gods” 


214 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§501 


^Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  the  Great  King’s- 
Wife,  Nefretiri,  beloved  of  Mut  — ,  a  house  hewn  in  the  pure  moun¬ 
tain  of  Nubia  -pd't),  of  fine,  white  and  enduring  sandstone,  as  an 
eternal  work. 

Its  origin  is  sometimes  also  ascribed  to  the  queen  herself. 

^The  Great  King’s- Wife,  Nefretiri,  beloved  of  Mut;  she  made  a 
house  in  the  pure  mountain. 

501.  Other  references  to  the  construction  of  the  monu¬ 
ment  are  these: 

*^Ramses-Meriamon,  beloved  of  Amon,  like  Re,  forever,  made  a 
house  of  very  great  monuments,  for  the  Great  King’s-Wife,  Nefretiri, 
fair  of  face - . 

His  majesty  commanded  to  make  a  house  in  Nubia 
hewn  in  the  mountain.  Never  was  done  the  like  before. 

III.  TEMPLE  OF  SERREH^ 

502.  ^‘Southward  of  the  village  of  Serreh,  ....  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  about  ten  miles  north  of 
Haifa,  are  the  foundations  of  a  temple  built  by  Ramses  II.’’ 
The  architrave  dedications  have  perished,  but  one  of  the 
doors  still  bears  the  words  (twice): 

Great  door  of  Usermare-Setepnere;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument 
for  his  living  image  in  the  land  of  Nubia  (T^  -pd  ’t) ;  its  beautiful  name, 
which  his  majesty  made,  is:  ‘‘Usermare-is-Splendid-in-Strength.” 

Ramses  II  was  thus  himself  the  god  of  this  temple,  as 
Amenhotep  III  was  at  the  Nubian  temple  of  Soleb. 

IV.  TEMPLE  OF  DERR 

503.  This  temple  was  dedicated  to  Re-Harakhte  by 
Ramses  II.  On  its  later  history,  see  IV,  §§474-83. 

•Dedication  from  the  hypostyle  (Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  192,  d);  variations 
of  it  in  abbreviated  form  appear  on  the  front,  between  the  statues. 

^Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptionsj  II,  58;  Lepsius,  DenkmOler,  III,  192,  e, 

cOn  facade;  Lepsius,  DenkmeUer,  III,  192,  b. 

dSayce,  Eeciteil,  XVII,  163  f. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


§505] 


21S 


^Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Harakhte; 
making  for  him  the  “House-'^of-Usermare-Meriamon-in-the-House-of- 
Re.’^ 

Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re, 
lord  of  Thebes  {Ns  'wt-t  ^  wy) ;  making  for  him  a  temple  in  the  House 
of  Re. 

V.  TEMPLE  OF  SEBt^A 

S04.  A  so-called  hemispeos,  by  the  village  of  Sebft^a, 
built  by  Ramses  II,  who  called  it  House  of  Amon.^^  He 
was  himself  one  of  the  deities  worshiped  in  it. 

The  dedications  are  as  follows: 

^Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  a  monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re, 
king  of  gods. 

A  pillar  in  the  forecourt  bears  the  following 

Ramses-Meriamon  in  the  House  of  Amon;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monu¬ 
ment  for  his  father,  Amon-Re,  making  for  him  a  great  and  august  pillar, 
adorned  with  every  splendid  costly  stone;  that  he  might  be  given  life, 
stability,  and  satisfaction,  like  Re,  every  day. 


VI.  TEMPLE  OF  EL  KAB 

505.  A  small  temple  to  Nekhbet,  built  within  the  city  wall 
by  Ramses  II,  bears  the  following  dedication: 

®pRamses  ID;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  mother,  Nekhbet], 

making  for  her  a  great  pylon,  —  *■ - ^  of  fine  white  sandstone,  its 

length  is  15  cubits;  its  door  is  of  cedar,  the  ^mounting*  thereof  of  copper, 
i^withi  the  great  name  of  ^my  majesty^ - . 


•Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  94  (first  94,  there  are  two  I);  Lepsius, 
Denkmaler,  III,  183,  a. 

^Also  called  ^^Temple-of-Ramses-in-the-House-oj-Re;'*  Champollion,  Notices 
dcscriptiveSf  I,  91. 

cTwice  in  the  cella;  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  180. 

^Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  182,  b. 

« Along  bottom  of  the  left  pylon  of  sandstone;  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  Text, 
IV,  37* 


2i6 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§  So6 


VII.  TEMPLE  OF  LUXOR* 

506-  Ramses  II  built  a  peristyle  court  in  front  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty  Luxor  temple,  with  a  facade  of  two 
large  pylon-towers.  To  do  this,  he  destroyed  a  beautiful 
granite  chapel  of  Thutmose  III,  which  had  stood  in  front 
of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  temple.  The  architect  was  the 
High  Priest  of  Amon,  Beknekhonsu,  who  has  left  a  brief 
record  of  the  building  on  his  statue  (§§  561-68).  The  king’s 
only  building  record,  as  far  as  published,  is  contained  in  the 
following  dedication  inscriptions: 

507.  ’’Mighty  Bull,  exalter  of  Thebes,  Favorite  of  the  Two  Goddesses, 
establishing  monuments  in  Luxor  for  his  father,  Amon,  who  placed 
him  upon  his  throne;  Golden  Horns,  seeking  excellent  things  for  him 
who  fashioned  him;  Kingof  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Usermare-Setep- 
nere.  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re,  king  of 
gods,  making  for  him  the  “Temple  (/«/-M<f)-of-Ramses-Meriamon®-in- 
the-House  (^)-of-Amon,”  of  fine  white  sandstone,  which  the  Son  of 
Re,  Ramses-Meriamon,  given  life,  like  Re,  forever,  made  for  him. 

508.  The  other  two  dedications  are  substantially  the 
same  as  far  as  the  words:  house  of  Amon;"  one*’  then 
proceeds: 

In  front  of  Luxor,  erecting  for  him  a  pylon  (bfyn  t)  anew;  its  flag- 
staves  approach  heaven;  which  the  Son  of  Re,  etc.  (as  above). 

The  other  continues:' 

Its  beauty  is  unto  the  height  of  heaven,  a  place  of  the  appearance 
for  the  lord  of  the  gods,  at  his  feast  of  (Luxor). 


•On  the  history  and  construction  of  this  temple,  see  the  paper  by  Borchardt 
{Zeitschrift  fur  dgyptische  Sprache,  1896,  122-38);  and  Daressy,  Notice  explicative 
des  ruines  du  temple  de  Louxor  (Le  Caire,  1893). 

bLepsius,  Denkmaletj  III,  149,  a. 

cThe  words  Possessed  of  Eternity**  are  added  to  Ramses^  name  in  the  name 
of  this  temple  in  at  least  one  other  occurrence  of  it  (northwest  corner,  letter  from 
Borchardt). 

dChampollion,  Monuments^  338,  and  Brugsch,  Thesaurus^  1241. 

«Brugsch,  Thesaurus^  1242;  verified  from  a  photograph. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


217 


8510] 


Vni.  TEMPLE  OF  KARNAK 

509.  Ramses  II  brought  to  completion  at  Kamak  the 
works  begun  by  his  two  predecessors.  He  erected  all  of  the 
columns  in  the  southern  half  of  the  great  hypostyle  hall, 
except  the  two  short  rows  immediately  south  of  the  nave, 
Seti  I  having  completed  the  northern  half,  the  nave  with 
both  rows  of  flower-columns  and  the  flrst  row  of  bud-columns 
of  the  southern  half.  Ramses  II  further  built  a  girdle  wall 
entirely  around  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  temple,  to  widen  it 
to  the  increased  width  of  the  new  hall  in  front.  The  Nine¬ 
teenth  Dynasty  Kamak  temple  thus  became  the  largest 
temple  ever  erected  in  the  history  of  building,  whether 
ancient  or  modern. 

510.  Although  the  conception,  and  for  the  most  part  the 
erection,  of  the  great  hall  belong  to  Seti  I  and  his  father, 
the  dedication  inscriptions  were  largely  added  by  Ramses  II 
in  his  own  name. 

“Ramses  II,  mighty  king,  making  monuments  in  the  house  of  his 
father,  Amon,  building  his  house  in  eternal  work,  established  forever. 
Lo,  the  Good  God  inclined  his  heart  to  make  monuments,  sleeping  or 
waking,  he  ceased  not  seeking  to  do  excellent  things.  It  was  his  maj¬ 
esty  who  gave  the  regulations,  and  led  the  work  on  his  monuments. 
All  his  plans  come  to  pass  immediately,  like  those  of  his  father,  Ptah- 
South-of-His-Wall,  a  likeness  indeed  of  that  which  the  excellent 
maker,  the  maker  of  excellent  things,  made,  which  his  majesty  made 

- of  excellent  and  eternal  work.  Every  country  is  beneath  thy 

feet,  O  king,  ruler  of  the  Nine  Bows,  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Ramses 
II.  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of 
Thebes  (Ns'wt  t^wy),  making  for  him  the  “Temple-of-the-Spirit- 
(F  ^  ^)-of-Ramses-Meriamon-in-the-House-of-Amon-over-against-Kar- 
nak  (Yp't-ys'wl),”  of  fine  white  sandstone;  a  resting-place  for  the  lord 
of  gods,  a  beautiful  refuge  for  the  divine  ennead;  surrounded  by  — 
columns;  the  walls  thereof  are  like  the  two  mountains  of  Aphroditopolk, 


“Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  II,  66-68. 


2i8 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§5ii 


established,  made  very  ^ its  beauty  (reaches)  to  the  height  of 
heaven. 

Amon  Speaks  to  the  Gods 

51 1.  Behold  ye,  this  beautiful,  pure  and  enduring  monument, 

which  my  son,  of  my  body,  my  beloved,  Eang  Ramses  II,  hath  made 
for  me;  whom  I  brought  up  from  the  womb,  to  make  excellent  things 
for  my  house;  whom  I  have  begotten  in  the  fashion  of  my  (own)  limbs, 
to  celebrate  the  ‘Going  Forth’  of  my  ka.  Ye  shall  endow  him  with 
satisfying  life,  ye  shall  form  his  protecting  suite,  and  be  his  associate 
when  he  is  with  you.  He  shall  be  a  spirit  as  ye  are  spirits;  his  name 
shall  flourish  as  your  names  flourish  to  the  end  of  the  two  periods  (of 
sixty  years)  and  forever;  according  to  that  which  he  has  built  for  Karnak 
for  the  first  time,  of  fine  white  sandstone.  He  hath  given  joy  to  my 
dwelling  more  than  (his)  predecessors  have  done . ” 

512.  Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father, 
Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  making  for  him  the  “Temple-of-the-Spirit- 
of-Ramses-Meriamon-in-the-House-of-Amon,”  of  fine  white  sandstone. 
Its  beauty  (reaches)  to  the  height  of  heaven,  over  against  Karnak;  its 
august  columns  are  of  electrum,  made  like  every  place  that  is  in  heaven. 
(It  is)  mistress  of  silver,  queen  of  gold,  it  contains  every  splendid  costly 
stone.  ‘T  have  made  it  for  thee  with  a  loving  heart,  as  a  profitable  son 
does  for  his  father,  by  enlarging  the  monuments  of  him  that  begat  him, 
and  establishing  the  house  of  him  that  caused  him  to  take  the  whole 
land.” 

^Live  the  Good  God,  who  makes  monuments  for  his  father,  Amon-Re. 

513.  The  dedications  on  the  architraves  of  the  nave, 
above  the  windows,  are  also  of  Ramses  II,  and  only  repeat 
the  above  dedications.  The  architect  who  erected  the 
gigantic  columns  of  the  hypostyle  was  Hatey,  who  reverts 
to  his  achievement  among  his  titles'^  thus: 


•Architrave  of  first  row  of  columns  on  the  right;  Champollion,  Notices  descrip- 
tiveSf  11,  83,  84. 

hColumns  of  the  first  row  on  the  left,  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  II,  79. 
cChampollion,  Notices  descriptives,  II,  85. 

<!^Statue  in  Lady  Meux’s  collection;  see  Some  Account  of  the  Collection  of 
Egyptian  Antiquities  in  the  Possession  of  Lady  MeuXy  by  E.  A.  Wallis  Budge,  143. 
I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Alan  Gardiner  for  the  reference. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


219 


isisl 


Great  chief  of  works  on  all  the  monuments  of  hb  majesty,  erecting 
great  columns  in  the  House  of  Amon. 

IX.  THE  RAMESSEUM 

SI4*  The  beautiful  mortuary  temple  of  Ramses  II  on 
the  west  side  at  Thebes,  known  as  the  Ramesseum,  was 
combined  with  a  palace*  which  has  since  perished.  The 
temple  itself,  while  it  has  preserved  some  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  historical  records  of  Ramses  II’s  reign  contains  no 
building  inscription  except  the  usual  dedication'’  on  the 
architraves; 

515.  Ramses  II ;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon- 
Re,  making  for  him  a  great  and  august  broad-hall  (wsfp't)  of  fine  white 
sandstone,  its  nave®  of  great  flower-columns,  surrounded  by  bud- 
columns:  a  place  of  rest  for  the  lord  of  gods  at  his  beautiful  ‘‘Feast  of 

the  Valley;”  that  he  might,  through  him,  be  given  life  - ^ 

shaping  his  sacred  barque  like  the  horizon-god,  founding  daily 
offerings,  doing  the  things  which  please  his  father,  causing  that  his  house 
should  be  for  him  like  Thebes,  supplied  with  every  good  thing,  gran¬ 
aries  reaching  heaven,  an  august  treasury  containing  silver,  gold,  royal 
linen,  every  real  costly  stone,  which  King  Ramses  II  brought  for 
him. 


“Lepsius,  Denkmdler^  III,  159,  shows  an  ** Appearance  of  the  king,  like  Re,  in 
his  palace  h  0  which  is  in  the  temple  {J!i*t  ntr)”  This  fact  was  already  noticed 
by  Erman,  Aegypten,  107,  108. 

^Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions,  II,  53;  Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments,  53, 
No.  2;  Lepsius,  DenkmiUer,  Text,  III,  134  (see  also  133).  The  name  of  the 
Ramesseum  was:  “  The-House  {h'i)‘Of-Usermare-Setepnere  {Ramses 
in-the-House-of-Amon**  (Wiedemann,  Zeitschrijt  fiir  dgyptische  Sprache,  1883,  34); 
also  mentioned  on  a  stela  at  Vienna  {Recueil,  IX,  50,  51).  An  architect  of  the 
Ramesseum  is  mentioned  on  his  fragmentary  statue  at  Cairo  (Daressy,  Recueil, 
22,  143);  its  treasurer  (Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  Text,  III,  249);  and  its  deputy  {ibid., 

*50)- 

cThe  text  has  fpft  hrs,  evidently  meaning  **its  center,**  as  the  columns  of  the 
Ramesseum  hypostyle  are  so  arranged,  and  no  other  colonnades  are  thus  placed 
in  this  temple.  It  is  not  an  error,  for  it  is  repeated  on  another  architrave  (Lepsius, 
Denkmdler,  Text,  III,  134,  with  a  slight  mistake). 

dThe  connection  has  been  omitted  by  Sharpe,  but  it  is  evidently  the  conclusion 
of  a  second  dedication. 


220 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§5t6 


X.  TEMPLE  OF  KURNA 

516.  This  mortuary  temple  of  Seti  I  was  left  unfinished 
by  him,  and  his  son,  Ramses  II,  states  the  fact  in  his  inscrip¬ 
tions,  narrating  also  that  he  completed  it  for  his  father;  in 
doing  which  he  made  his  own  dedication  inscriptions  more 
prominent  than  those  of  his  father. 

517.  ®He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re,  king 
of  gods,  lord  of  heaven,  ruler  of  Thebes,  restoring  the  house  of  his 
father,  King  Seti  I,  triumphant.  Behold,  he  went  to  his  retreat,  he 
attained  heaven,  he  joined  Re  in  heaven;  while  this  his  house  was  in 
course  of  construction.  Its  doors  were  in  ruin  at  their  stations,  and 
all  its  walls  of  stone  and  brick;  no  work  therein  was  finished,  neither 
inscriptions  nor  sculpture.  Then  his  son,  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands, 
Ramses  II,  commanded  to  build  the  works  in  his  house  of  millions  of 
years,  over  against  Karnak,  and  [to  fashion]  his^  image  resting  in  his 
house,  gilded  with  electrum,  when  the  god  sails  in  ^person^  at  his  feast 
of  the  valley  to  rest  in®  his  house,  as  the  first  of  the  kings. 

518.  ^Utterance  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  who  are  in  the  North¬ 
land,  to  their  son.  King  Ramses  II,  given  life:  ‘‘We  have  come  to  thee, 
our  arms  bearing  offerings,  and  supplied  with  provision  and  food. 
We  have  gathered  to  thee  every  good  thing  of  all  that  grows  upon 
earth,®  in  order  to  make  festive  the  house  of  thy  father.  As  thou  art 
his  beloved  son,  so  art  thou  like  Horus,  the  protector  of  his  father,  in 
taking  the  inheritance  of  the  Two  Lands.  How  goodly  is  the  fsoni] 
who  restores  what  is  ruined !  Thou  hast  built  the  house  of  thy  father, 

completed  in  its  work,  thou  hast  fashioned  his  image  for - of 

gold - thou  hast  —  divine  offerings - I  have  —  that 


^Dev^ria,  Bihliothbqiie  %gyptologique,  IV,  292,  293;  Champollion,  Notices 
descriptiveSf  I,  694;  Bnigsch,  RecueU  de  monuments^  51,  3;  Lcpsius,  Denkmdlert 
HI,  152,  a\  beginning  also  Lepsius,  DenkmiUert  Text,  III,  91. 

^From  here  on,  this  text  is  found  also  in  Dev^ria,  Bihliotkhque  igyptologique^  IV, 
293.  294. 

cSee  Piehl  {Zeitschrift  jUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  1887,  38),  whose  reading  is 
confirmed  by  the  duplicate. 

<iSee  also  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  693. 

®The  following,  to  the  word  **  gold  ”  is  also  in  Dev^ria,  Bihliothhque  igyptolo- 
gique,  IV,  294,  295. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


221 


5S2i] 


which  thou  hast  done  *'again  for’  the  house  of  their  father.  Thou 
hast  endowed  it  with  satisfying  life;  as  a  benevolent  son  is,  so  art 
thou. 

519.  ^Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father, 
Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  presider  over  Karnak;  restoring  the  house 

of  his  father.  King  Seti  I.  - they  erected  all  its  walls  of  — 

stone;  no  work  therein  was  finished,'^  neither  inscriptions  nor  sculpture 

520.  ^Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Amon- 
Re,  restoring  for  him  the  house  of  his  father.  King  Seti  I.  Lo,  (he  is) 

in  heaven - its  doors  are  of  real  cedar,  surrounded  with  walls  of 

brick  established  forever,  which  the  Son  of  Re,  Ramses-Meriamon, 
made  for  him.® 

521.  Ramses  II  recognized  the  temple,  however,  as  sa¬ 
cred  also  to  his  grandfather,  as  he  indicates  in  these  dedica¬ 
tions: 

^Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father^s  father, 
the  Good  God,  Ramses  I,  triumphant. 

^Renewal  of  the  monument  which  King  Ramses  II  made  for  his 
father’s  father,  the  Good  God,  Ramses  I,  in  the  monument  of  his  father, 
the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Seti  I. 

^Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  the  Good 
God,  Menpehtire  (Ramses  I),  making  for  him  a  house  of  millions  of 
years  on  the  west  of  Thebes,  of  good  white  sandstone,  wherein  Amon 
rests,  like  Re,  in  the  horizon  of  heaven.^ 


»Piehl,  Inscriptions^  I,  145  A  f. 

'>Restored  from  the  duplicate  passage  in  §  517. 

cFrom  here  on,  as  in  duplicate  (§517). 

dChampollion,  Notices  descriptives^  I,  296;  Lepsius,  DenkmSXer^  III,  152,  h; 
Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments^  51,  i. 

®Another  fragmentary  dedication,  Lepsius,  Denkmalcfy  Text,  III,  100;  and  a 
fragmentary  door-dedication,  Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monumentSy  51,  2. 

^Champollion,  Notices  descriptivesy  I,  307  and  704;  Brugsch,  Recueil  de 
monumentSy  52,  5;  Lepsius,  Denkmalery  III,  152,  g;  Lepsius,  Denkmdlery  Text, 
in,  94,  95* 

sChampollion,  Notices  descriptiveSy  I,  705;  Lepsius,  Denkmdlery  III,  152,  /, 
also  e  with  slight  variant. 

I'See  further,  Wilkinson,  Materia  hieroglyphica,  PI.  I. 


222 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§522 


522.  While  acknowledging  thus  the  original  dedication 
of  the  temple  to  the  mortuary  service  of  his  father  and 
grandfather,  Ramses  added  also  a  series  of  dedications  in 
his  own  name  alone.  These  are  as  follows: 

“Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  to  his  father,  for  his 
father,  Amon-Re,  lord  of  Thebes,  making  for  him  a  house  of  millions 
of  years  on  the  west  of  Thebes,  (of)  fine  white  sandstone,  the  doors 
thereof  of  real  cedar,  which  [the  Son  of  Re],  Ramses-Meriamon,  given 
life,  like  Re,  made  for  him. 

. ^  making  for  him  a  oroad-hall  of  appearance  in  front  of 

his  Great  House,  a  place  of  appearance  for  the  lord  of  gods  at  the  ‘Teast 
of  the  Valley*’ - . 


XI.  SETI  I’S  TEMPLE  AT  ABYDOS 

523.  See  Great  Abydos  Inscription  (§§262-77). 

XII.  RAMSES  n’s  TEMPLE  AT  ABYDOS® 

524.  This  inscription  contains  a  brief  record  of  the  build¬ 
ing  and  endowment  of  Ramses  II^s  mortuary  temple  at 
Abydos. 

525.  Lo,  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  was  “Son-Whom-He-Loves,”  the 
champion  of  his  father,  Wennof er,  by  making  for  him  a  beautiful,  august 
temple,  established  for  eternity,  of  fine  limestone  of  Ayan;  a  great 
double  pylon  of  excellent  work;  portals  of  granite,  the  doors  thereto  of 
copper,  wrought  with  figures  in  real  electrum;  a  great  seat  of  alabaster, 
mounted  in  granite,  his  excellent  seat  of  the  beginning;  a  meskhen- 
chamber  for  his  divine  ennead,  his  august  father  who  rests  therein,  and 
Re  when  he  has  reached  heaven.  His  protecting  image  is  beside  him 
that  fashioned  him,  like  Homs,  upon  the  throne  of  his  father. 

526.  (He)  established  for  him  permanent  daily  offerings,  at  the 
beginnings  of  the  seasons,  all  feasts  at  their  times,  offered  to  his  ka. 


aChampollion,  Notices  descriptives,  I,  696. 

'>Oinitting  introductory  formula,  which  is  as  in  preceding. 

^Inscription  engraved  on  the  exterior  of  the  south  wall  of  Ramses  II*s  temple 
at  Abydos;  published  by  Mariette,  Abydos,  II,  PI.  3  (cf.  ibid,,  ii,  {  139);  see  also 
Mariette,  Voyage  dans  la  haute  Egypte,  I,  29. 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


223 


§530] 


He  filled  it  with  every  thing,  overflowing  with  food  and  provision,  bulls, 
calves,  oxen,  geese,  bread,  wine,  fruit;  (it)  was  filled  with  peasant- 
slaves,  doubled  in  fields,  made  numerous  in  herds;  the  granaries  were 
filled  to  bursting,  the  grain-heaps  approached  heaven,  — ®  for  the  store¬ 
house  of  divine  offerings,  from  the  captivity  of  his  victorious  sword. 

527.  His  treasury  was  filled  with  every  costly  stone,  silver,  gold  in 
blocks;  the  magazine  was  filled  with  every  thing  from  the  tribute  of  all 
countries.  He  planted  many  gardens,  set  with  every  (kind  of)  tree, 
all  sweet  and  fragrant  woods,  the  plants  of  Punt.  The  Son  of  Re, 
Lord  of  Diadems,  Ramses-Meriamon,  beloved  of  Osiris,  First  of  the 
Westerners,  great  god,  lord  of  Abydos,  made  (it)  for  him. 

528.  The  dedications  of  the  temple  doors  are  as  follows:^ 

1.  He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Osiris,  residing  in 
“House  (ift*/)-of- Ramses -Meriamon-Possessing- Abydos;”  making  for 
him  a  doorway  of  black  granite,  the  doors  mounted  with  copper,  and 
gilded  with  electrum,®  which  his  son,  Ramses  II,  made  for  him. 

2.  Live  the  god,  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Ramses  II.  He 
made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Osiris,  lord  of  Abydos,  making 
for  him  a  great  doorway  of  pink  granite,  the  doors  of  bronze  in  beaten 
work  (called) :  “  Portal-of-Usermare-Setepnere-Raiser-of-Monuments- 
in-Abydos.” 

529.  The  dedication  inscription  of  the  shrine-chamber  is 
partially  preserved  on  a  fragment  of  alabaster,  thus: 

He  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Osiris,  making  for  him 
a  “Great  Seat”  of  pure  alabaster - . 

Xm.  MEMPHIS  TEMPLES'* 

530.  Ramses  II  built  largely  at  Memphis,  and  a  temple 
on  the  south  of  the  sacred  lake  was  chiefly  due  to  him. 


•There  is  a  sign  for  ** slave'*  here,  but  a  verb  (  ?)  is  lacking  in  the  lacuna. 

'>Brugsch  (RecueU  de  monumeniSj  I,  PI.  XII),  who  does  not  state  (p.  22)  in 
which  temple  he  found  them.  The  numbers  refer  to  those  on  his  plate. 

cThese  doors  are  said  to  be  **of  electrum”  in  an  inscription  at  the  base  of  the 
same  door.  Its  name  is  also  given  there  as  the  **  PorUsl-ol-U sermarC’SeUpnere- 
Possessed-ol-Elernity." 

dSee  Maspero,  Struggle  of  the  Nations,  422,  423;  Wiedemann,  Aegyptisehe 
Geschichte,  445,  note  3;  H.  Brugsch,  {ZeUschnft  fUr  Hgyptische  Sprache,  VII,  2), 


224 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[5S3i 


One  of  his  temples  there  was  called  “  The-House-of-MUlions- 
o}-Years-o}-Kmg-Usermare-Setepnere-in-the-House-o}-Amon- 
in-Memphis”'^  But  Ramses’  works  in  Memphis  have 
perished  with  the  city.  The  chief  literary  references  to 
them  are  in  the  Great  Abydos  Inscription  (§  260, 1.  22),  and 
the  Blessing  of  Ptah  (§§412,  413, 11.  32-35).  A  paragraph 
in  a  letter  of  instructions  from  an  official  to  his  subordinate 
refers  to  Ramses  II’s  Thoth-temple  in  Memphis,  and  men¬ 
tions  repairs  on  the  Sphinx,  which  may  be  of  later  date : 

531.  ''I  have  heard  that  thou  hast  taken  the  eight  laborers  (h^y) 
who  were  working  in  the  “House-of-Thoth-of-Ramses-Meriamon.-L.-P.- 
H.,-Satisfied-with-Truth”  in  Memphis.  Thou  shalt  deliver  them  to 
draw  stone  for®  the  Sphinx  in  Memphis. 

532.  References  to  Ramses  II’s  Ptah-temple  are  rare. 
The  following  interesting  buflding  inscription*^  is  so  frag¬ 
mentary  that  the  name  of  the  king  is  uncertain.  As  it  lies 
in  the  temple  chiefly  due  to  Ramses  II,  he  is  the  most  prob¬ 
able  king  to  whom  we  may  refer  it.  It  was  upon  a  great 
stela  which  marked  the  Station  0}  the  King”  or  ceremonial 
station  occupied  by  the  Pharaoh  during  the  official  ritual 
ceremonies.  Like  similar  stelae  at  Thebes  in  the  temples 


gives  brief  mention  of  Mariette’s  excavations  here  (see  also  Mariette,  Monuments 
diver Sj  31).  De  Morgan’s  later  excavations  are  briefly  described  by  E.  Brugsch 
{Egypt  Exploration  Fund  Archceological  Report^  1892-93,  24,  25).  Daressy  studied 
the  remains  exhumed  in  1887-8  and  1892  by  the  Service,  with  plan  of  the  temple 
of  Ramses  II  (Annales,  III,  22-31), 

^Ynhw-hd,  Mariette,  Monuments  divers,  62,  6«»Roug^,  Inscriptions  hiiro- 
glyphiques,  XXX;  cf.  also  Mariette,  Monuments  divers,  63  f. 

hSpiegelberg,  Recueil,  17,  158.  Papyrus  Turin,  19,  2. 

cQr:  Vyse  found  an  incomplete  stela  of  Ramses  II  between  the  feet 

of  the  Sphinx. 

^Fragment  of  a  large  stela  of  gritstone  still  13  feet  high  and  over  2  J  feet  wide. 
The  beginnings  of  12  horizontal  lines  are  preserved.  It  was  found  in  the  ruins 
of  Ramses  II’s  Memphite  temple  of  Ptah;  published  by  Daressy,  Annates,  III, 
27,  28.  Fragments  of  two  other  similar  stelae,  too  scanty  for  use  here,  were  also 
found  by  Daressy  in  this  temple  {ibid,,  a8). 


BUILDING  INSCRIPTIONS 


225 


§  S3S] 


of  Amenhotep  III  (II,  904,  910),  Elephantine  (II,  791). 
and  Am4da  (II,  791-97),  it  bore  an  account  of  the  erection 
of  the  building  in  which  it  stood.  As  in  the  building  in¬ 
scriptions  of  Thutmose  III  (II,  131  ff.),  Amenhotep  III  (II, 
878-92),  and  others,  it  is  introduced  by  an  account  of  the 
king’s  coronation.  Enough  of  the  fragmentary  inscription 
is  preserved,  to  show  that,  as  in  the  coronations  of  Thutmose 
III  and  Harmhab,  Amon  appeared  in  public,  delivered  an 
oracle  proclaiming  him  king,  and  proceeded  to  the  palace  to 
crown  him.  In  all  probability,  therefore,  the  oracle  and 
the  crowning  by  Amon,  were  the  regular  custom  at  the  ac¬ 
cession  of  every  king  in  the  Empire.  Hence  the  innumer¬ 
able  conventional  references  to  Amon’s  having  fixed  the 
diadem  upon  the  Pharaoh’s  head  designate  an  actual  cere¬ 
mony.  That  this  prerogative  of  Amon  was  not  originally 
his,  but  was  usurped  from  Re,  is  evident.  Undoubtedly  a 
similar  ceremony  took  place  at  Heliopolis  at  the  accession 
of  every  Pharaoh,  from  the  Fifth  D)masty  on,  to  the  assump¬ 
tion  of  the  rite  by  Amon  at  an  uncertain  date  after  the  rise 
of  Thebes. 

Amon  and  His  Gods  Come  Forth 

533.  * -  » —  his  house  of  Luxor,  with  his  ennead  (psd  t) 

behind  him.  When  the  land  brightened  again,  and  day  came - . 

Oracle  Naming  King 

534.  - sThou  art  my  son,  the  heir  who  came  forth  from 

my  limbs.  As  I  am,  shalt  thou  be,  with  none  except  thee - . 

<Their  offerings  shall  be  doubled,  they  shall  recognize  thee  as  my  son 
who  came  forth  from  my  limbs.  I  have  gathered - . 

Coronation  in  the  Palace 

535.  - scorning  to  him,  to  the  palace.  He  placed  himself 

before  him  in  the  shrine  of  his  august  son - *Amon  f — Lo, 

Amon  came,  with  his  son  before  him,  to  the  palace,  to  fix  his  diadem 
upon  his  head,  to  exalt  the  two  plumes - . 


226 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


tJS36 


Character  of  Reign 

536. -  —  ’that  he  might  do  what  satisfies  thee.  He  has 

avoided  deceit,  and  expelled  lying  from  the  land,  while  his  laws  are 

firm,  in  the  administration  of  the  regulations  of  the  ^ancestors® - 

*diadem  ^ He  has  ^ ^  the  circuit  of  the  sun,  all  lands  are  together 
doing  the  ^service^  of  this  great  god,  ^ ^  like - . 

Station  0}  the  King,  and  Building  Inscription 
9}le  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  Ptah-South-of- 
His-Wall,  making  for  him  a  “Station  of  the  Ruler”*  of  gritstone, 

over  against  ^ - *®Moors  upon  them®  of  real  cedar,  in  order 

to  make  splendid  the  house  of  ^ in  order  to  purify  the  way  which 

his  father,  Ptah,  treads.  He  gave  to  him  a  house  anew - *»of 

—  cubits,  of  every  splendid  costly  stone;  its  flagstaves  are  of  real  cedar, 
wrought  with  Asiatic  copper,  their  tips  of  electrum.  A  broad-hall  was 
made  ^ . . ® 

XIV.  CITY  OF  TANIS 

See  Blessing  of  Ptah  (§406,  11.  16-18);  see  also  above 
note  on  XIV,  p.  211. 


STELA  OF  THE  YEAR  400^ 

538.  This  monument  was  erected  at  Tanis  by  an  important 
oflficial  of  Ramses  II,  named  Seti.  He  had  been  dispatched 
thither  to  erect  a  stela  in  honor  of  Seti  I,  and  improved  the 


•The  determinative  is  a  stela,  as  elsewhere.  The  place  meant  is  the  same  as 
at  Thebes,  Elephantine,  and  Am^a,  see  II,  140,  note.  The  material  above 
mentioned,  ** gritstone is  that  of  the  stela  bearing  the  inscription,  which  is  here 
meant.  It  stood  therefore  in  the  holy  of  holies,  and  not  at  the-front  of  the  temple, 
as  Daressy  thought  {Annates,  III,  28). 

^Y^dr't,  with  determinative  of  a  house. 

^Probably  hr* sn. 

^Possibly  Daressy  has  omitted  /?«,  and  we  should  read  ** Ramses;**  or  mss 
is  vulgar  writing  for  who  begat  him** 

•The  last  line  is  obscure,  but  it  is  clear  that  the  account  of  the  building  is  con¬ 
cluded  in  1.  II. 

^Granite  stela  discovered  at  Tanis  by  Mariette  and  reburied  there  by  him. 
It  could  not  be  found  at  the  excavation  of  Tanis  by  Petrie  {Tanis,  II,  32);  hence 


STELA  OF  THE  YEAR  400 


227 


§S4l] 


opportunity  to  place  a  stela  of  his  own,  bearing  a  record  of 
his  visit  in  the  temple,  to  which  he  appended  prayers  for 
the  favor  of  the  god,  as  so  many  officials  did  in  Abydos. 
Although  headed  with  the  full  titulary  of  Ramses  II,  the 
document  is  dated  in  the  four  hundredth  year  of  King 
Opehtiset-Nubti,  a  Hyksos  ruler.  This  remarkable  fact 
shows  that  the  reign  of  this  king  began  an  era — the  only  one 
known  in  Egypt — ^which  had  survived  in  use  at  Tanis  into 
the  Ramessid  times.*  Unfortunately,  the  stela  does  not 
give  the  year  of  Ramses  II  in  which  it  was  erected.  Wiede¬ 
mann  dates  it,  as  it  seems  to  me  with  probability,  at  Ramses 
II’s  death.  In  any  case,  the  knowledge  of  the  lapse  of  400 
years  between  the  Hyksos  Nubti  and  some  year  of  Ramses 
II  is  of  great  value. 

539.  At  the  top  of  the  monument  is  a  relief,  showing 
Ramses  II  offering  wine  to  Set.  Behind  the  king  stands 
Seti,  the  author  of  the  monument,  praying,  as  follows: 

- thy  ka,  O  Set,  son  of  Nut,  mayest  thou  grant  a  happy  life 

following  thy  ka,  to  the  ka  of . ^  [Seti]. 

540.  Below  the  relief  is  Seti’s  record  of  his  commission, 
with  the  appended  prayer,  as  follows: 

Live . ^  King  Ramses  II,  sovereign,  who  equips  the  Two 

Lands  with  monuments  in  his  name,  so  that  Re  rises  in  heaven  for 
love  of  him.  King  Ramses  II. 

541.  His  majesty  commanded  to  make  a  great  stela  of  granite 


it  has  never  been  in  Bulak,  as  stated  by  Birch  {Records  of  the  Past,  IV,  33).  A 
notice  of  the  discovery  was  published  by  de  Roug^  {Revue  archiologique,  N.  S., 
IX,  1864,  128-36),  and  the  monument  itself  by  Mariette  {ibid.,  N.  S.,  XI,  1865, 
PL  IV  and  pp.  169-90);  and  Bunsen,  Egypt's  Place,  2d  ed.,  V,  734!.  See  also 
Chabas,  Zeitschrift  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  1865,  29  ff.;  Wiedemann,  ibid.,  1879, 
13811.;  and  Piehl,  Recueil,  II,  121,  122. 

^Wiedemann  thought  that  it  was  still  later  in  use,  and  that  Manetho,  as 
excerpted  by  Africanus,  dates  the  death  of  Bokkhoris  in  the  year  990  of  this  era 
(see  Zeitschrift  fiir  dgyptische  Sprache,  1879,  138  ff.);  but  this  conclusion  is  due 
to  a  misunderstanding. 

hSeti's  titles  as  below. 


cFull  fivefold  titulary. 


228 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  IL 


[854* 


(ynr^n-m  ^  in  the  great  name  of  his  fathers,  in  order  that  the  name  of 
his  grandfather,®  King  Menmare,  Son  of  Re:  Seti-Merneptah,  might 
be  exalted,  enduring  and  abiding  forever,  like  Re,  every  day. 

542.  In  the  year  400,  in  the  fourth  month  of  the  third  season,  on 
the  fourth  day,  of  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Opehtiset 
~phiy-St)\  Son  of  Re,  his  beloved:  Nubti,^  whom  Harakhte  desires 
to  be  forever  and  ever;  came  the  hereditary  prince,  governor  of  the 
(residence)  city,  vizier,  fan-bearer  on  the  right  of  the  king,  chief  of 
bowmen,  governor  of  foreign  countries,  commandant  of  the  fortress  of 
Tharu  -n£;),  chief  of  the  foreign  gendarmes,  kingVscribe,  master 
of  horse,  chief  priest  of  the  Ram-god,  lord  of  Mendes,  High  Priest  of 
Set,  ritual  priest  of  Buto-Upet-Towe,  chief  of  prophets  of  all  gods, 
Seti,  triumphant,  son  of  the  hereditary  prince,  governor  of  the  (residence) 
city,  vizier,  chief  of  bowmen,  governor  of  foreign  countries,  command¬ 
ant  of  the  fortress  of  Tharu,  king’s-scribe,  master  of  horse,  Peramses, 
triumphant;  born  of  the  lady  {nh't-pr)^  the  musician  of  Re  (P^ 

Teya  (Ty-  ^),  triumphant.  He  said:  ‘‘Hail  to  thee,  O  Set,  son  of  Nut, 
great  in  strength  in  the  barque  of  millions  of  years,  ^’overthrowing 

enemies*  in  front  of  the  barque  of  Re,  great  in  terror, - [grant 

m]e  a  happy  life  following  thy  ka,  while  I  remain  in - 


ROYAL  JUBILEE  INSCRIPTIONS 

543.  The  sources  for  the  jubilee  celebrations  of  Ramses  II 
are  fuller  than  for  those  of  any  other  king.  Unfortunately, 
his  obelisks,  although  far  more  numerous than  those  of  his 


^Seti  I  was  not  the  grandfather,  but  the  father,  of  Ramses  II;  hence  Wiede¬ 
mann  has  suggested  {Zeitschrijt  filr  dgypHsche  Sprache,  1879,  142)  that  when  the 
upper  part  of  the  stela  containing  the  titulary,  etc.,  of  Ramses  II  had  been  com¬ 
pleted,  Ramses  died,  and  “A/5  majesty**  refers  to  his  son  and  successor,  who  sent 
confirmatory  orders  for  the  erection  of  the  monument  in  Seti  I’s  honor.  Seti  I 
could  then  be  referred  to  as  his  majesty’s  grandfather.  The  rendering  **  grand- 
jather**  is,  however,  open  to  objection;  it  is  possible  that  we  should  render:  father 
of  his  fathers^*  although  it  is  a  question  how  much  attention  should  be  paid  to  the 
plural  strokes  after  father**  in  a  text  of  this  age. 

'’This  name  is  thought  by  some  to  refer  to  the  god  Set,  but,  of  course,  no  one 
in  the  time  of  Ramses  II  believed  that  Set  ruled  400  years  before!  [Later:  See 
the  same  view  by  Ed.  Meyer,  Aegyptische  ChronologUy  66.] 

cRamses  II  erected  no  less  than  fourteen  obelisks  at  Tanis  alone  (Petrie, 
TaniSf  I,  PI.  VII-XI;  Roug6,  Inscriptions  hUroglyphiques^  194-97);  then  the  well- 


§545] 


ROYAL  JUBILEE  INSCRIPTIONS 


229 


ancestors,  bear  inscriptions  of  a  very  vague  and  general 
nature,  extolling  the  king’s  power  and  glory,*  and  con¬ 
taining  no  references  to  the  royal  jubilees,  to  celebrate  which 
they  were  erected.  Indeed,  they  do  not,  for  the  most  part, 
show  even  the  former  conventional  dedication  inscription.'* 
544*  A  good  example  of  this,  is  the  Heliopolis  obelisk, 
left  uninscribed  by  Seti  I,  which  was  then  inscribed  by 
Ramses  II,  who  with,  for  him,  unusual  generosity,  appro¬ 
priated  only  one  side  for  his  own  inscription.  Its  inscrip¬ 
tions  are  as  follows:® 

North  Side 

545 . ^  (Seti  I),  whose  monuments  are  excellent  in  Heliopolis 

seat  of  eternity,  like  the  four  pillars  of  heaven,  abiding,  enduring  at 


known  pair  in  Luxor  (one  now  in  Paris) ;  a  pair  in  Karnak  (Lepsius,  DenkmSler^ 
III,  148,  fl);  four  now  in  Rome  (one  a  forgery);  one  now  in  Florence;  besides 
usurping  those  of  his  predecessors,  particularly  that  of  his  father,  Seti  I,  at  Heli¬ 
opolis.  A  Berlin  scarab  (No.  1947,  AusfUhrliches  VerzHchniss  des  Berliner  Muse- 
urns,  420),  commemorates  the  erection  of  obelisks  by  him.  A  pair  of  obelisks 
taken  out  of  the  Elephantine  quarry,  probably  by  Ramses,  are  commemorated 
by  the  official  in  charge  in  an  inscription  on  the  island  of  Sehel,  thus;  ** Real  king^s- 
confidafU,  his  beloved,  conducting  the  work  on  two  great  obelisks.  High  Priest  of  Khnum, 
Anuket,  and  Satet,  Amenhotep.**  (Mariette,  Monuments  divers,  V,  70,  No.  17  — 
Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  V,  I2i4*»de  Morgan,  Catalogue  des  monuments,  94,  140  — 
Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  Text,  IV,  125,  [6].  Not  in  Petrie,  Season  in  Egypt,  but  see 
No.  58,  ibid,) 

*The  historical  references  in  the  obelisk  inscriptions  will  be  found  in  §  39a 
and  §  448,  note. 

^As  the  obelisks  at  Tanis  are  all  prostrate,  there  may  be  dedications  on  the 
hidden  sides,  which  have  never  been  turned  up.  The  only  dedication  to  be  found 
on  any  of  Ramses  II *s  obelisks  thus  far  is  on  the  two  Luxor  obelisks.  The  one 
still  in  Luxor  reads  (Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions,  II,  60);  “JHTe  made  (it)  as  his 
monument  for  his  father,  Amon-Re,  erecting  for  him  two  great  obelisks  of  granite.^' 
The  other  one,  now  in  Paris,  reads:  ^'Ramses  II;  he  made  (it)  as  his  monument  for 
his  father,  Amon-Re,  making  for  him  a  great  obelisk  (caUeS)\  *  Ramses-Meriamon- 
is4he-Beloved-of-Atum.'*^  (Shaxpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions,  I,  42,  43;  Saint-Maur, 
Voyage  du  Luxor  en  Egypte  [Paris,  1835],  PI.  II;  Champollion-Figeac,  U Obi- 
Usque  de  Louqsor  transports  h  Paris  [Paris,  1833].)  For  Beknekhonsu’s  record 
of  the  erection  of  these  Luxor  obelisks,  see  his  statue  inscription  (§§  561-68). 

fainter pretatio  Obeliscorum  Urbis . digesta  per  A.  M.  Ungarellium 

(Romae,  MDCCCXLII),  Tab.  II;  Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions,  II,  66;  Trans¬ 
actions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  2d  ser.,  I,  opp.  p.  176  (drawings  by 
Bonomi),  Marucchi,  Gli  Obelischi  Egiziani  di  Rama  (Rome,  1898),  Tav.  Ill,  IV. 

dFull  titulary,  except  fifth  name. 


230 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§546 


the  forecourt  of  Re.  The  ennead  of  gods  is  satisfied  with  his  deeds. 
(May)  the  Son  of  Re,  Seti-Merneptah,  beloved  of  the  gods  of  Heliopolis, 
[live]  like  Re. 

South  Side 

546  . (Seti  I),  who  adorned  Heliopolis  for  him  who  is 

therein,  who  purified  it  for  Re,  its  lord;  the  lords  of  heaven  and  earth 
rejoice;  his  favor  is  doubled  because  of  his  deeds.  May  the  Son  of  Re, 
Seti-Merneptah,  beloved  of  Harakhte,  live  through  him,  like  Re. 

West  Side 

547  . (Seti  I),  who  filled  Heliopolis  with  obelisks,  shining 

with  rays;  the  house  of  Re  is  flooded  with  his  beauty,  and  the  gods  of 
the  Great  House  rejoice.  May  the  Son  of  Re,  Seti-Merneptah,  beloved 
of  the  ennead  of  gods  which  is  in  the  Great  House,  be  given  life  through 
him  (n/). 

East  Side 

548  .  . .  .  Ramses  (II),  who  has  made  his  monuments  like  the 

stars  of  heaven,  whose  works  mingle  with  the  sky,  rejoicing  over  which 
Re  rises  in  his  house  of  millions  of  years.  It  was  his  majesty  who 
beautified^  this  monument  for  his  father,  in  order  to  cause  that  his 
name  should  abide  in  the  house  of  Re.  May  Ramses  (II)-Meriamon, 
beloved  of  Atum,  lord  of  Heliopolis,  be  given  life  through  him  («/). 

549.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  obelisk  has  become  more  and 
more  a  monument  of  a  general  character  in  celebration  of 
the  king’s  glory,  and  has  lost  its  exclusive  significance  as  a 
memorial  of  the  royal  jubilee.  This  is  indicated  also  by 
the  fact  that  memorial  inscriptions  commemorating  the 
celebration  of  the  royal  jubilees  are  to  be  found  in  Upper 
Egypt  from  el  Kab  to  Philae,  as  if  other  record  than  the 
obelisks  were  necessary.  From  these  commemorative  in¬ 
scriptions  the  following  table  of  jubilees  may  be  recon¬ 
structed  ;•* 

aThat  is,  added  the  inscriptions.  ** Beautifying*'  is  used  in  the  same  way  by 
Thutmose  IV  on  the  obelisk  of  his  grandfather,  Thutmose  III  (II,  833). 

^he  Roman  numerals  in  the  following  footnotes  refer  to  the  nine  inscriptions 
(§i  552-60).  My  list  {Zeitschrift  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  39,  60,  note),  which 
follows  Brugsch,  is  to  be  corrected  as  herein. 


231 


tS52]  ROYAL  JUBILEE  INSCRIPTIONS 

550.  Year  30,*  first  jubfiee. 

Yc3,r 

Year  34,  ^  Jubilee. 

Year  37, -i  third  jubilee. 

Year  40,*  fourth  jubilee. 

Year  41,*')  , 

Year  42,  /  jubilee. 

Year  44,*  sixth  jubflee. 

Year  [47  ?],'■  seventh  jubilee. 

Year  [50?]/  eighth  jubilee. 

Year  [53  ?],*  ninth  jubilee. 

551.  Most  of  these  celebrations,  at  least  as  far  as  the  year 
41,  were  m  charge  of  Ramses  II’s  favorite  son,  Khamwese  * 
assisted  by  another  son,  Khay,  who  continued  later. 

I.  FIRST  GEBEL  SILSILEH  INSCRIPTION^ 

th.  Tw  the  royal  jubilee  of  the  Lord  of 

the  Two  Lands,  Usermare-Setepnere,  given  life  forever 

Pis  majesty  commanded]  to  celebrate  the  royal  jubil^  in  the  whole 
King’s-son,  (sem-)  priest,  Khamwese,  triumphant.* 


*1,  n,  in,  IV,  V.  p  ^ 

has  36).’  V  (so  Champouioni  Brugsch 


*111,  IV,  V.  VI. 
«VIII. 


'Year  41,  VII;  year  42,  VIII. 


and  2k  celebration  is  rendered  certain  by  the  certainty  of  eighth 

'Berlin  scarabs,  No.  3549  (.Aasfahrliches  Veneichniss  des  hr 

420)  and  No.  5081  {Zeitschrift  lUr  dgyfitische  Sdrachr  ,«/>  o\  •  **^*“®*^» 
number  of  jubilee  without  date.  128),  giving  only 

I.™.  ~  X-S“ 

‘ReUef  showing  Khamwese  in  the  costume  of  a  high  priest  of 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


232 


[>553 


n.  BIGEH  INSCRIPTION® 

553.  Year  30.  First  occurrence  of  the  royal  jubilee.  Year  34.^ 
Repetition  of  the  royal  jubilee.  Year  37.®  Third  occiurence  of  the 
royal  jubilee. 

Of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands:  Usermare-Setepnere,  Lord  of  Dia¬ 
dems:  Ramses-Meriamon,  given  life  forever.  His  majesty  commis¬ 
sioned  the  (5m-)  priest,  the  king*s-son,  Khamwese,  to  celebrate  the 
royal  jubilees  in  the  whole  land. 

in.  SECOND  GEBEL  SILSILEH  INSCRIPTION^^ 

554.  Year  30.  First  occurrence  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Year  34.  Repetition  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Year  37.  Third  occurrence  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Year  40.  Fourth  occurrence  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Under  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Usermare-Setepnere,  Lord  of 
Diadems,  Ramses-Meriamon,  given  life  forever. 

His  majesty  commanded  to  commission  the  (sm-)  priest,  king^s-son, 
Khamwese,  to  celebrate  the  royal  jubilees  in  the  whole  [land]  in  South 
and  North. 

IV.  THIRD  GEBEL  SILSILEH  INSCRIPTION* 

S55-  This  inscription  is  a  duplicate  of  the  preceding,  the 
lacuna  in  which  it  supplies.  It  shows  an  incorrect  variant, 
calling  the  jubilee  of  year  37,  the  fourth. 


*On  the  rocks  of  the  island  of  Bigeh:  Champollion^  Notices  descriptives,  I, 
162;  Sharpe,  Egyptian  Inscriptions^  II,  58;  Young,  Hieroglyphics,  42;  Lepsius, 
DenkmOler,  Text,  IV,  175;  Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments,  II,  83,  3.  De  Morgan 
{Catalogue  des  monuments)  has  omitted  this  inscription. 

hAnother  inscription  on  the  island  of  Sehel  (Bigeh,  Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  V, 
1128;  but  Mariette,  Monuments  divers,  71,  No.  32,  and  de  Morgan,  Catalogue 
des  monuments,  88.  No.  62,  give  Sehel)  has:  **  Year  33;  repetition  of  the  royal 
jubilee  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Ramses  //.” 

cThe  “39”  given  by  Wiedemann  {Aegyptische  Geschichte,  465)  is  taken  from 
Brugsch,  Recueil  de  monuments,  which  has  39;  but  it  is  an  error,  as  all  the  other 
publications  have  37,  except  Champollion,  Notices  descriptives,  which  has  36. 

<lAt  the  right  of  the  entrance  of  the  great  rock  temple  of  Harmhab  at  Gebel 
Silsileh  (Champollion,  Monuments,  116).  Over  the  inscription  Ramses  II  and 
Khamwese  appear  in  a  relief,  worshiping  Ptah  and  Sebek  of  Gebel  Silsileh. 

^At  the  left  of  the  entrance  of  the  great  rock  temple  of  Harmhab  at  Gebel 
Silsileh:  Champollion,  Monuments,  115.  Above  the  inscription  is  a  relief  in  which 
Ramses  II  and  Khamwese  appear  in  worship  before  Ptah-Tatenen  and  Amen- 
rasonther. 


ROYAL  JUBILEE  INSCRIPTIONS 


233 


§SS8] 


V.  FOURTH  GEBEL  SILSILEH  INSCRIPTION* 

556.  Year  30.  First  occurrence  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Year  34.  Repetition  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Year  37.^  Third  occurrence  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Year  40.  Fourth  occurrence  of  the  royal  jubilee. 

Under  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Usermare-Setepnere,  Lord  of 
Diadems:  Ramses-Meriamon,  given  life,  like  Re,  forever. 

His  majesty  commanded  to  commission  the  hereditary  prince, 
{mry-ntr-)  priest,  attached  to  Nekhen,  prophet  of  Mat,  chief  justice, 
judge,  governor  of  the  (residence)  city,  vizier,  Khay,  triumphant,  to 
celebrate  the  royal  jubilees  [in  the]  whole  [land],  in  South  and  North. 

VI.  SEHEL  INSCRIPTION*" 

557.  Year  40.  Came  the  king^s-son,  {sm-)  priest  of  Ptah,  satisfying 
the  heart  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Khamwese,  to  celebrate  the 
[fourth]  royal  jubilee  [in  the  who]le  [land  in  South  and  North]. 

VII.  EL  KAB  INSCRIPTION 

558.  Year  41.  Came  the  king’s-son,  {sm-)  priest  of  Ptah,  satisfying 
the  heart  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Khamwese,  to  celebrate  the 
fifth  royal  jubilee  [in  the  wh]ole  [lan]d. 


•Large  stela  at  the  right  of  the  door  of  the  great  rock  chapel  of  Harmhab  at 
Gebel  Silsileh,  published  by  Champollion,  MonumerUSf  118;  Brugsch,  Recueil  de 
monuments,  II,  83;  and  Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  V,  1128  (without  relief  and  quite 
incorrectly).  Over  the  inscription,  before  the  dates,  kneels  Khay,  and  still  higher 
appears  Ramses  II  before  Amon-Re,  Harakhte,  Mat,  Ptah-Tatenen,  and  Re>Sebek 
of  Gebel  Silsileh. 

^Brugsch  has  36. 

cQn  the  rocks  of  the  island  of  Sehel  at  the  first  cataract:  Mariette,  Monuments 
divers,  71,  No.  33,  and  de  Morgan,  Catalogue  des  monuments,  103,  No.  33,  where 
de  Morgan’s  copyists  have  evidently  reproduced  Mariette’s  copy,  without 
finding  the  origin^.  The  second  jubilee  is  also  referred  to  on  Sehel  (see  II, 
p.  232,  n.  b). 

•^According  to  Lepsius,  this  inscription  is  in  the  temple  of  Amcnhotep  III 
(Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  174,  </);  whereas  Brugsch  puts  it  in  the  tomb  of  Setau 
{Thesaurus,  V,  1128).  Wiedemann  {Aegyptische  Geschichte,  465,  n.  5)  evidently 
diinks  there  are  two  such  inscriptions;  one  in  the  temple,  and  one  in  the  tomb; 
but  that  given  by  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  is  certainly  the  same  as  that  placed  by 
Brugsch  in  the  tomb  of  Setau.  A  relief  over  the  inscription  shows  Khamwese  in 
obeisance  to  his  father,  enthroned  as  Osiris. 


234 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§S59 


Vni.  FIFTH  GEBEL  SILSILEH  INSCRIPTION^ 

SSQ.  Year  42,  first  month  of  the  second  season,  day  i,  of  King 
Ramses  II,  given  life,  forever  and  ever.  His  majesty  commanded  to 
commission  the  vizier  Elhay  {ff  ^  y),  to  inaugurate  the  fifth  royal  jubilee 
of  King  Ramses  II,  in  the  whole  land. 

IX.  SIXTH  GEBEL  SILSILEH  INSCRIPTION^ 

560.  Year  44.^  First  month  of  the  second  season,  day  i,  under  the 
majesty  of  the  king,  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Usermare-Setepnere, 

given  life  forever - ;  Son  of  Re,  Lord  of  Diadems,  Ramses-Meria- 

mon,  given  life,  like  Re,  forever. 

His  majesty  commanded  to  com[mission]  the  hereditary  prince 
(mry-ntr-)  priest,  chief  justice,  judge,  governor  of  the  (residence)  city, 
vizier,  Khay,  [triumphant,  to  celebrjate  the  sixth  royal  jubilee,  in  the 
whole  land,  in  the  districts  of  South  and  North. 


INSCRIPTION  OF  BEKNEKHONSm 

561.  The  most  important  of  Ramses  II’s  officials  who 
has  transmitted  a  mortuary  autobiography  to  us,  was 
Beknekhonsu,  the  High  Priest  of  Amon.  He  tells  us  every 
step  in  his  career,  with  the  length  of  each  office,  as  follows: 


^Legrain,  Recueilf  XXVI,  219,  n.  3. 

'^Stela  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  of  the  great  rock  chapel  of  Harmhab  at 
Gebel  Silsilch;  published  by  Champollion,  MonumentSy  119;  Brugsch,  Recueil  de 
monumetUs,  83,  2:  Brugsch,  ThesauruSy  V,  1128,  IV.  A  relief  above  the  inscrip¬ 
tion  shows  Ramses  II  accompanied  by  Mat,  before  Amon,  Mut,  Khonsu,  Harakhte, 
and  Sebek  of  Gebel  Silsilch.  Below  the  inscription  is  Khay  kneeling,  with  a  few 
lines  of  adoration  before  him. 

cSo  Brugsch;  Champollion,  Monuments,  has  45. 

dOn  the  back  of  a  squatting  statue  of  Beknekhonsu,  now  in  the  Glyptothek  at 
Munich  (No.  30).  It  was  carefully  published  by  Dev^ria,  Memaires  de  VInstitui 
igyptien,  1862,  I,  701-54;  reprinted  in  Bibliothhque  6gyptologiquey  IV,  276-323 
(plate  opposite  p.  288).  A  collation  with  a  photograph  showed  the  text  to  be 
without  error.  It  was  again  inaccurately  published  by  Brugsch  {ThesauruSy  1240  f., 
where  even  a  year  is  incorrect:  6  for  27!  1.  3).  The  tomb  of  Beknekhonsu  was 
found  by  Champollion  {Notices  descriptivesy  I,  538)  at  Thebes  in  Assasif;  smaller 
objects  from  his  tomb  are  noted  by  Deveria  {Bihliothhque  igyptologique,  IV,  295, 
296). 


INSCRIPTION  OF  BEKNEKHONSU 


235 


8564] 


Infancy,  4  years,  from  i  to  4. 

Youth,  12  years,  from  5  to  16.  (Being  chief  of  the 
stable  at  least  a  part  of  this  time.) 

Priest,  4  years,  from  17  to  20. 

Divine  father,  12  years,  from  21  to  32. 

Third  prophet,  15  years,  from  33  to  47. 

Second  prophet,  12  years,  from  48  to  59. 

High  Priest,*  27  years,  from  60  to  86. 

562.  Beginning  under  Seti  I,  he  must  have  been  of  about 
the  same  age  as  Ramses  II,  and  was  likewise  the  only 
official  known  to  us  who  survived  almost  if  not  quite,  as  long 
as  the  aged  Ramses  himself.**  In  addition  to  his  sacerdotal 
duties,  he  was  also  chief  architect,  and  as  such  built  a  temple 
for  Ramses  II,  “0/  the  upper  portal  of  the  house  of  Amon,** 
which  can  only  be  the  Luxor  temple  of  Ramses  II.  He 
also  refers  to  its  obelisks,  its  flagstaves,  its  lake,  its  gardens, 
and  other  accessories  which  he  provided  for  the  temple. 
He  is  further  found  serving  as  judge  in  a  civil  suit  in  the 
forty-sixth  year  of  Ramses  II.  ** 

Titles 

563.  *  Hereditary  prince,  count,  High  Priest  of  Amon,  Beknekhonsu, 
triumphant;  he  says: 

Career 

564.  was  a  truthful  witness,  profitable  to  his  lord,  extolling  the 
instruction  of  his  god,  proceeding  upon  his  way,  performing  the  excellent 


^Lit.,  **  First  prophets  Brugsch’s  six  years  as  the  length  of  service  in  this 
office  {Thesaurus  and  Geschichte,  566)  is  an  error;  I  have  especially  compared  the 
photograph  on  this  point. 

'>The  statue  of  a  Beknekhonsu,  High  Priest  of  Amon  under  Ramses  III,  found 
in  the  temple  of  Mut  (Benson  and  Gourlay,  The  Temple  of  Mut  in  Asher,  343-47), 
cannot,  for  reasons  of  chronology,  as  well  as  because  at  least  two  high  priests  held 
oflSce  in  the  interim,  be  identified  as  that  of  our  Beknekhonsu. 

cPapyrus  Berlin  No.  47,  1.  4;  Zeitschrift  fiir  dgypUsche  Sprache,  XVII,  1879, 
72,  and  Taf.  I. 


236 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  RAMSES  II 


[§565 


ceremonies  in  the  midst  of  his  temple.  I  was  chief  overseer  of  works 
in  the  house  of  Amon,  satisfying  the  excellent  heart  of  his  lord.  O  all 
ye  people,  take  account  in  *your  hearts;  ye  who  are  on  earth,  who 
shall  come  after  me,  in  millions  of  millions  of  years,  after  old  age  and 
infirmity,  whose  hearts  are  versed  in  discerning  worth;  I  will  inform 
you  of  my  character  while  I  was  upon  earth,  in  every  office  which  I 
administered  since  my  birth.’’ 

565.  I.  “I  passed  four  years  in  extreme  childhood  {nds). 

2.  I  passed  twelve  years  as  3a  youth  {hwn),  while  I  was  chief  of  the 
training-stable*  of  King  Menmare  (Seti  I). 

3.  I  acted  as  priest  (w  ^  h)  of  Amon,  during  four  years. 

4.  I  acted  as  divine  father  of  Amon,  during  twelve  years. 

5.  I  acted  as  third  prophet  of  Amon  during  fifteen  years. 

6.  I  acted  as  second  prophet  of  Amon  during  twelve  years. 

7.  He^  favored  me,  he  distinguished  me,  because  of  my  rare  merit. 
He  appointed  me  to  be  High  Priest®  of  Amon  during  twenty-seven 
years.” 


Character 

566,  “I  was  ^a  good  father  to  my  serf -laborers,  training  their 
classes,  giving  my  hand  [to]  him  who  was  in  trouble,  preserving  alive 
him  who  was  in  misfortune,  performing  the  excellent  duties  in  his 
temple.  I  was  chief  overseer  of  works  before  Thebes  for  his  son,  who 
came  forth  from  his  limbs,  King  Ramses  II,  given  life,  maker  of 
monuments  for  his  father,  Amon,  ^who  placed  him  on  his  throne.” 

The  assistant,  the  High  Priest  of  Amon,  Beknekhonsu,  triumphant, 
made  (it). 


Building  of  Luxor  Temple 

567.  He  says  as  follows:  “I  performed  the  excellent  duties  in  the 
house  of  Amon,  being  chief  overseer  of  works  of  my  lord.  I  made 
for  him  a  temple  (called):  ‘Ramses-Meriamon-Hearer-of -Petitions,’  at 


See  Erman,  Festschrift  fUr  Georg  FherSy  444,  445. 

'’This  may  refer  to  either  the  king  or  the  god,  but  it  probably  refers  to  the 
god,  as  in  1.  4. 


cLit.,  prophet  of  Amon,**  being  in  direct  succession  from  the  rank  of 
third  and  second  prophet. 


INSCRIPTION  OF  BEKNEKHONSU 


237 


§568] 


the  upper*  portal  of  the  house  {pr)  of  Amon.  I  erected  obelisks^ 
therein,  of  granite,  whose  beauty  approached  heaven.  A  wall  %as 
before  it  of  stone  over  against  Thebes;  it  was  flooded;*^  and  the  gardens 
were  planted  with  trees.  I  made  very  great  double  doors  of  electrum; 
their  beauty  met  the  heavens.  I  hewed  very  great  flagstaves,  and  I 
erected  them  in  the  august  forecourt  in  front  of  his  temple.” 

Sacred  Barges 

568.  ‘T  hewed  great  barges  of  the  ‘Beginning-of-the-River,'  for 
Amon,  Mut,  and  Khonsu;  by  the  hereditary  prince.  High  Priest  of 
Amon,  Beknekhonsu.” 


*This  is  the  southern  gate  of  the  temenos  of  the  Karnak  temple  toward  Luxor, 
to  which  the  four  southern  pylons  of  Karnak  led.  At  this  portal  the  great  obelisk 
of  Thutmose  III  was  erected  by  Thutmose  IV  (Lateran  Obelisk,  II,  835),  who 
also  calls  it  the  upper  portal  0}  Karnak.^*  The  only  temple  of  Ramses  II  at  this 
portal  is  the  Luxor  temple;  but  the  name  given  it  by  Beknekhonsu  does  not 
accord  with  the  name  of  Luxor  temple  (see  §  507). 

^These  are  the  two  Luxor  obelisks  of  Ramses  II,  of  which  one  is  still  in  situ, 
and  the  other  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  Paris. 

cHe  means  that  the  wall  surrounded  or  gave  access  to  a  temple  lake.  Cf.  the 
work  of  Ramses  IX  (Mariette,  Karnak^  40, 1.  7),  whose  wall  (d  =»  d  ^  as  here)  gave 
access  to  the  Karnak  lake.  There  is  certainly  no  reference  to  the  Kurna  temple 
and  the  Ramesseum,  as  some  have  thought. 


REIGN  OF  MERNEPTAH 


THE  INVASION  OF  LIBYANS  AND  MEDITERRANEAN 

PEOPLES 

569.  For  this,  one  of  the  most  serious  invasions  which 
have  ever  threatened  Egypt,  we  possess  a  series  of  four 
documents,  which  furnish  a  fairly  full  account  of  its  course, 
the  ensuing  battle,  and  the  resulting  relief  in  Egypt.  They 
are  the  following: 

L  The  Great  Kamak  Inscription  (§§572-92). 

II.  The  Cairo  Column  (§§  593-95). 

III.  The  Athribis  Stela  (§§  596-601). 

IV.  The  Hymn  of  Victory  (§§602-17). 

570.  These  sources  enable  us  to  see  the  already  aged 
Memeptah  facing  the  evil  conditions  on  his  Libyan  frontier, 
inherited  from  the  decades  of  neglect  which  concluded  his 
great  father’s  reign.  The  Libyans  have  for  years  past  been 
pushing  into  and  occupying  the  western  Delta.*  They 
pressed  in  almost  to  the  gates  of  Memphis,  eastward  to  the 
district  of  Heliopolis,  and  southward  to  the  two  oases  nearest 
the  Fayflm.  Worse  than  this,  they  had  made  a  coalition 


^Gol^nischeff’s  interesting  and  suggestive  letter  {Zeitschrijt  }iir  dgyptische 
Sprache,  40,  101-6)  draws  geographical  data  from  a  new  papyrus  in  his  possession, 
on  the  basis  of  which  he  would  place  this  immigration  and  invasion  (as  well  as  those 
under  Ramses  III)  south  of  the  Fayfim  near  Ehnas.  His  arguments  are  not  with¬ 
out  force,  but  the  conclusion  seems  to  me  to  be  refuted  by  the  statement  that  this 
invasion  and  the  battle  which  repelled  it  occurred  in  the  western  rwd**  (Karnak 
Inscription,  1.  30,  where  western''  is  omitted,  and  Athribis  stela,  1.  7).  Rwd  is  a 
term  used  only  of  the  Delta,  the  two  halves  of  which  are  called  the  eastern  and 
western  nod  (Spiegelberg,  Rechnungen),  The  invasions  under  Ramses  III  were 
also  in  the  western  rwd"  (IV,  405).  See  also  Harris,  10,  8  (IV,  224).  Further¬ 
more,  the  improbability  that  the  Libyans  would  enter  Egypt  by  way  of  the  northern 
oases,  going  around  the  south  side  of  the  Fayiim,  to  reach  the  region  of  Memphis, 
is  evident. 


238 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


239 


§571] 


with  the  maritime  peoples  of  the  Mediterranean,  who  now 
poured  into  the  Delta  from  Sardinia  on  the  west  to  Asia 
Minor  on  the  east.  The  mention  of  these  peoples  in  these 
documents  is  the  earliest  appearance  of  Europeans  in  litera¬ 
ture,  and  has  always  been  the  center  of  much  study  and 
interest.®  With  the  sympathy,  if  not  the  direct  assistance 
of  the  Kheta,  the  Libyan  king,  Meryey,  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  these  combined  allies  and  invaded  the  Delta,  bring¬ 
ing  his  wives  and  belongings,  and  apparently  intending  a 
permanent  occupation.  Some  time  during  the  first  hdf  of 
the  tenth  month  (late  in  March),  in  Merneptah’s  fifth  year, 
a  messenger  reached  him  with  the  news.  Rallying  his 
forces  immediately,  Memeptah  met  the  enemy  on  the  third 
of  the  eleventh  month  (about  April  15)  at  Perire  in  the 
western  Delta,  and  in  six  hours’  fighting  routed  their  com¬ 
bined  forces  with  immense  slaughter.  He  pursued  them 
from  Perire  to  the  rise  of  the  Libyan  desert,  called  the 
“Mount  0}  the  Homs  of  the  Earth” 

571.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  the  exact  interrelation 
of  the  numbers  given  in  the  Great  Kamak  Inscription  and 
the  Athribis  Stela,  but  over  9,000  of  the  enemy  were  slain, 
possibly  as  many  more  taken  prisoners,  while  many  horses 
and  cattle,  and  vast  numbers  of  weapons  were  captured. 
The  Libyan  king  was  forced  to  ignominious  flight,  his  camp, 
his  wives,  and  his  personal  belongings  falling  into  the  hands 


^Thc  layman  has  long  been  misled  regarding  this  event  by  such  titles  for  it  as 
“Invasion  of  the  Greeks,”  although  there  is  now  no  doubt  that  the  early  peoples 
of  southern  Europe  participated  in  this  invasion.  Since  the  study  of  Sardinian 
art  by  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  as  Muller  has  shown,  we  must  accept  the  Sherden  as 
Sardinians;  the  Teresh  may  then  equally  well  be  the  Etruscans  (Tyrsenoi),  and 
the  Shekelesh  might  be  the  Sikeli  (if  i  be  an  ethnic  termination  in  these  western 
names;  but  see  IV,  59).  Maspero  has  suggested  Sagalassos  in  Asia  Minor.  The 
Ekwesh  are  not  impossibly  the  Achieans,  and  from  Asia  Minor  are  the  Luka  or 
Lycians.  Compare  Muller,  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology^  X; 
and  Asien  und  EuropOy  335-59;  371-S4;  and  Hall,  Annual  of  the  British  School 
at  AthenSy  VIII,  157. 


240 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[IS7* 


of  the  Egyptians.  After  setting  fire  to  the  camp,  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  carried  the  plimder  in  triumph  to  the  king,  who  viewed 
the  trophies  of  the  dead,  the  prisoners,  and  the  spoil.  He 
then  returned  home,  and  in  the  royal  palace,  probably  at 
Memphis,  he  delivered  a  triumphal  address,  to  which  the 
court  responded  with  acclamation.  The  people  of  the  Delta, 
on  hearing  the  news,  break  out  into  rejoicing  that  peace 
and  safety  are  restored  to  them, 

I.  GREAT  KARNAK  INSCRIPTION* 

573.  This,  one  of  the  longest  documents  preserved  on 
the  temple  walls  of  Egypt,  gives  the  fullest  account  which 
has  survived  to  us  of  the  great  victory  of  Memeptah  over 
the  Libyans.  The  prominence  of  Ptah  in  the  narrative  be¬ 
trays  the  Memphite  origin  of  the  document,  but  the  original 
which  doubtless  once  existed  in  Memphis  has  now  perished. 

573-  The  document  does  not  offer  us  any  idea  of  the 


»A  long  inscription  of  originally  eighty  lines,  engraved  on  the  inside  (west)  of 
the  eastern  wall  connecting  the  main  Karnak  temple  with  Pylon  VII  (Baedeker’s 
plan),  the  northernmost  of  the  southern  pylons.  The  upper  ends  of  the  lines  have 
lost  the  space  of  one  course  of  masonry,  equivalent  to  about  four  to  five  words. 
The  text,  noted  first  by  Champollion,  was  partially  published  by  Lepsius  {Denk- 
mdler.  III,  199,  a;  only  11.  44-77  and  list  of  names.  Text,  III,  43);  Brugsch  then 
purposed  to  publish  the  first  half,  omitted  by  Lepsius,  and  inserted  11.  8-43  in  his 
Geographische  Inschriften^  II,  PI.  25  (not  PI.  85,  as  stated  in  Records  of  the  Pasty 
IV,  37,  nor  35,  as  given  in  Maspero,  Struggle  of  the  NationSy  432).  Brugsch 
numbered  his  lines  i  to  36,  but  he  really  omitted  11.  1-7.  It  was  finally  completely 
published  by  Diimichen  {Historische  Inschrifteriy  I,  2-6),  Mariette  (who  copies 
Dumichen’s  mistakes,  Karnak j  52-55),  and  de  Roug^  {Inscriptions  hiiroglyphiqueSy 
179-98).  None  of  these  publications  is  very  exact;  both  Lepsius  and  Brugsch 
omit  the  lower  ends  of  the  lines,  doubtless  still  covered  in  their  day,  without  any 
indication  of  the  fact.  Roug^  found  the  upper  ends  of  11.  36-41  (on  a  block  redis¬ 
covered  by  Legrain  in  1901,  see  1.  36,  p.  246,  n.  a),  and  properly  placed  them; 
I  arranged  all  the  publications  in  parallel  columns,  and  the  resulting  text,  while 
tolerably  close  to  the  original  and  preserving  some  signs  now  lost,  was  not  sufl&- 
ciently  accurate.  Later  I  secured  good  photographs  of  the  inscription  through 
the  kindness  of  Borchardt,  which  added  some  readings  of  importance.  The  new 
fragments  found  by  Legrain  {AnnaleSy  IV,  2-4)  contain  nothing  of  importance 
except  the  reference  to  the  western  rdw;'*  they  arrived  too  late  to  be  available  in 
the  following  text. 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


241 


5576] 


course  of  the  battle,  beginning  the  account  of  the  conflict 
itself  almost  immediately  with  the  rout  of  the  Libyans; 
but  it  is  gratif)dngly  full  regarding  the  conditions  which 
led  up  to  the  battle  and  the  immense  plunder  which  resulted 
from  it.  In  style  it  is  often  so  highly  colored,  and  effuse  in 
poetic  figures,  that  the  translation  is  rendered  difficult. 

Title 

574.  *[rBeginning  of  the  victory  which  his  majesty  achieved  in  the 

land  of  Libya^* - i,  Ekwesh  -  J  ^  -xr  ^  -I  ^),  Teresh  (Tw-rw-l  ^), 

Luka  {Rw-kw)y  Sherden  (5^-r^-d-n),  Shekelesh  North¬ 

erners  coming  from  all  lands. 

Valor  of  Merneptah 

575*  * - ^  his  valor  in  the  might  of  his  father,  Amon; 

King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Eg)rpt:  Binre-Meriamon;  Son  of  Re: 
Merneptah-Hotephirma,  given  life.  Lo,  this  Good  God,  flourishing 

- 3 - his  [fathers]  all  the  gods,  as  his  protection. 

Every  country  is  in  fear  at  the  sight  of  him.  King  Merneptah.®  ^ - 

- desolated,  made  a  waste,  commanding  that  the  invader  of 

his  every  boundary  of  Egypt  bow  himself  down  in  his  time,  s - 

- all  his  ^plans'  (whose)  verdict  is  the  breath  of  life.  He  causes 

the  people  to  be  care-free,  sleeping  while  the  terror  of  his  strength  is 
in 


Preparation  of  Defenses 

576, - ,  to  protect  Heliopolis,  city  of  Atum,  to  defend  the 

stronghold  of  Ptah-Tatenen,  to  save  —  from  evil  f - tents^ 


•The  presence  of  the  list  of  hostile  allies  at  the  beginning  of  the  inscription 
would  indicate  with  great  probability  that  the  opening  words  were  the  same  as  in 
the  Kadesh  Poem,  which  likewise  begins  with  a  b’st  of  the  allied  foes. 

^The  loss  is  one  course  of  masonry  at  the  top — ^at  most  four  or  five  words  at 
the  beginning  of  each  line. 

^Double  name,  as  also  in  all  other  places  in  the  inscription. 

<*Hebrew  bin's.  This  remark  may  possibly  refer  to  the  Libyans  and  indi¬ 
cate  the  distribution  of  their  immigrants  from  Per-Berset  on  the  west  to  the  Helio- 
politan  canal  on  the  east. 


242 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§S77 


before  Per-Berset  (Pr-6^  -3^5*0,®  freachingi^ the  Sheken 

canal  on  the  ^ of  the  Eti  -/y)^  canal. 

Libyan  Aggression 

577.  ® - not  cared  for,  it  was  forsaken  as  pasturage  for 

cattle  because  of  the  Nine  Bows,  it  was  left  waste  from  the  times  of  the 
ancestors.  All  the  kings  of  Upper  Egypt  abode  in  their  pyramids 

9 - ;  the  kings  of  Lower  Egypt  [rested]®  in  the  midst  of 

their  cities,  inclosed  in  the  state  palace,  for  lack  of  troops;  they  had  no 
bowmen  to  answer  against  them. 

Accession  of  Merneptah^  and  His  Preparations 

578.  It  happened  - he  fassumedT]  the  throne  of 

Horus,  he  was  appointed  to  preserve  the  folk  (^^‘0  alive,  he  hath 
arisen  as  king  to  protect  the  people  (rfj^y  't).  There  was  might  in  him 

to  do  it,  because  of - ^  in  ” - Meber  (M  ^  -r 

the  choicest  of  his  bowmen  were  mustered,  his  chariotry  was  brought 

up  from  every  side,  his  scouts  were  in - his  ^  in  * » - 

his  — .  He  considered  not  hundreds  of  thousands  in  the  day  of  the 
array.  His  infantry  (mnfy  't)  marched  out,  the  heavy  armed*  troops 
arrived,  beautiful  in  appearance,  leading  the  bowmen  against  every 
land. 


•This  town  has  nothing  to  do  with  modern  Belbds  on  the  eastern  margin  of 
the  Delta  (classic  Byblos?  See  Brugsch,  Dictionnaire  g^ographique,  197);  but 
was  in  the  western  Delta  (see  IV,  370). 

'^Roug^,  Inscriptions  hUroglyphiques,  has  yr  (the  eye)«“(/a,  make,**  perhaps 
used  as  in  Uni  (I,  322, 11. 41, 42,  note)  with  the  meaning  **reachf  visits* 

cText  has  not  “  north but  either  Id  or  ^nd  with  the  d  written  out  alphabetically, 
and  a  long  horizontal  determinative  lost  in  a  joint  of  the  masonry. 

canal  leaving  the  Nile  by  Heliopolis;  the  Sheken  canal  is  otherwise  unknown 
(see  Brugsch,  Dictionnaire  gSograpbique,  77). 

*The  parallelism  demands  a  verb  similar  in  meaning  to  abode.** 

^  There  is  here  a  reference  to  the  accession  of  Merneptah,  as  Brugsch  has 
noticed  (Geschichie,  569). 

^Fragments  of  words;  Brugsch’s  “weil  er  war  das  Ebenbild  des  [sch5n] 
gesichtigen”  (—Ptah)  is  quite  impossible. 

syllable  or  two  may  be  lost  at  the  beginning;  it  is  the  name  of  an  unknown 
foreign  country.  The  connection  before  it  is  not  clear,  but  it  is  evident  that  the 
practical  preparations  for  the  campaign  begin  here. 

‘Lit.,  those  who  bear  the  hand-to-hand  fighting;**  these  are  heavily  armed' 
foreign  mercenaries. 


LIBYAN. MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


243 


§580] 


News  of  Coalition  of  Libyans  and  Sea-Peoples  against  Egypt 

579.  ® - *3 - the  third  season,  saying:  “The 

wretched,  fallen  chief  of  Libya,  Meryey  -y^  -yw-y),  son  of  Ded 

(Dy-d),  has  fallen  upon  the  country  of  Tehenu  with  his  bowmen  *4 - 

- Sherden  ^ -r  ^ -d-w),  Shekelesh  (S^  -k-rw-S^)y  Ekwesh 

(3b  .^3  _]CD),  Luta  {Rw-kw)f  Teresh  {Tw-ry-i^)f  taking  the  best 

of  every  warrior  and  every  man  of  war  (phrr)  of  his  country.  He  has 

brought  his  wife  and  his^  children  *5 - leaders  of  the 

camp,  and  he  has  reached  the  western  boundary  in  the  fields  of  Perire.”^ 

Merneptah^s  Speech 

580.  Lo,  his  majesty  was  enraged  at  their  report,  like  a  lion;  ^^fhe 
assembled  his  courts,  and  said  to  th]em:  “Hear  ye  the  command  of  your 

lord;  I  give - as  ye  shall  do,  saying:  I  am  the  ruler  who  shepherds® 

you;  I  spend  my  time  searching  out  - you,  as  a  father, 

who  preserves  alive  his  children;  while  ye  fear  like  birds,  and  ye  know 
not  the  goodness  of  that  which  he  does.  Is  there  none  answering  in 

18 - fShall  the  land  be**  wajsted  and  forsaken  at  the  invasion 

of  every  country,  while  the  Nine  Bows  plunder  its  borders,  and  rebels 

invade  it  every  day  ?  Every  —  takes  - to  plunder  these 

fortresses.  They  have  repeatedly  penetrated  the  fields  of  Egypt  •’to* 
the  [great]^  river.  They  have  halted,  they  have  spent  whole  days  and 


*This  announcement  was  made  in  the  tenth  month,  as  is  shown  by  the  Cairo 
column  (§  595),  which  fills  out  the  lacuna  at  the  beginning  of  the  above  section. 
Allowing  the  fourteen  days  for  the  muster  of  the  troops  (1.  28),  and  remembering 
that  the  armies  met  in  battle  on  the  third  of  the  eleventh  month,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  news  must  have  reached  the  king  during  the  first  half  of  the  tenth  month. 

bThe  first  syllable  is  omitted  by  Dumichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  Mariette, 
Karnakf  and  Brugsch,  Geographische  Inschriften;  being  given  only  by  de  Roug€, 
Inscriptums  hieroglyphiqueSf  where  it  is  probably  a  correction  by  de  Roug^  himself. 

cSo  Rougd,  Inscriptions  hiiroglyphiqnes;  DUmichen,  Historische  InschrifteUy 
and  Mariette,  Kamak^  have  *Hheir'' 

^Pr-yr  misread  by  Brugsch  as  Pr-Yr-Sps’ t,  and  then  identified  with  Prosopis. 
This  is  shown  to  be  incorrect  by  the  short  version  (§  600, 1.  9).  See  MiiUer  {Asien 
und  EuropOf  357,  n.  3),  who  would  identify  it  as  the  K  »  fw  of  the  Pyramid  Texts 
(Mernere,  i82=»Pepi,  145;  cf.  also  Teti,  35i=>Pepi,  II,  174),  “a  border  town  of 
the  natron  district.” 

«Like  Seti  I  in  making  the  well  on  the  Redesiyeh  road  (Third  Inscription, 

i  19s.  1-  2). 

^The  restoration  is  certain,  the  determinative  (papyrus  roll)  is  clear,  and  there 
is  just  room  for  the  great** -sign  («  above  it.  In  exactly  the  same  connection 
it  is  used  in  Ramses  Ill’s  Libyan  wars  (IV,  405,  see  note). 


244 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§580 


months  dwelling  - .  They  have  reached  the  hills  of  the 

oasis,®  and  haVe  cut  off  the  district'^  of  Toyeh  rSo^^  it  has 

been  since  the  kings  of  Upper  Egypt,  in  the  records  of  other  times.  It 

was  not  known  ** - as  worms,  not  considering  their  bodies, 

(but)  loving  death  and  despising  life.  Their  hearts  are  exalted  against 

the  people®  ** - their  chief.  They  spend  their  time  going 

about  the  land,  fighting,  to  fill  their  bodies  daily.  They  come  to  the 
land  of  Egypt,  to  seek  the  necessities  of  their  mouths;  their  desire  is 

*3 - my  bringing  them  like  netted  fish  on  their  bellies. 

Their  chief  is  like  a  dog,  a  man  of  Hxjastingi,  without  courage;  he 

does  not  abide  —  - bringing  to  an  end^  the  Pedetishew 

{Pd'ty-iw)y^  whom  I  caused  to  take  grain  in  ships,  to  keep  alive  that 

land  of  Kheta.^  Lo,  I  am  he  whom  the  gods  — ,  every  ka  *5 - 

- under  me.  King  Merneptah,  given  life.  By  my  ka,  by  the  — , 

as  I  flourish  as  ruler  of  the  Two  Lands  ^the  land  shall  be  made^ 
- Egypt.  Amon  nods  approval,  when*  one  speaks  in 


*The  usual  designation  of  the  oasis  otherwise  called  by  the  Egyptians  the 
^‘Northern  Oasis,”  and  by  the  Greeks  ”The  Lesser.”  It  lies  exactly  southwest  of 
the  Fayiim,  in  N.  28®,  less  than  one  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Nile  valley. 

'^Brugsch  (Dictionnaire  giographique,  70)  has  n  h^r  n  (for  m  lyr  n) 
oft*  that  is,  **cut  ojf  in  front  of*'  which  does  not  alter  the  meaning. 

cThis  is  the  oasis  now  called  “Farafrah,”  about  seventy-five  miles  west  of 
south  of  the  ”  Northern  Oasis.”  The  Libyans  had  thus  taken  the  two  oases  nearest 
them,  south  of  the  natron  district. 

^Miy;  it  must  in  some  way  indicate  the  customary  and  habitual  thing  in 
former  times.  See  §377,  n.  b.  Jfrtw^**one  says;**  hence  the  whole,  probably, 
literally  is:  **The  customary  thing**  say  they,  **  since,  etc.** 

«Of  Egypt  (rjy  t).  «  rk. 

sAsiatics,  or:  **the  Pedetishew  bring  to  an  end** 

hThe  king  evidently  regards  Rheta  as  included  in  the  coalition  of  northern 
peoples  against  Egypt,  and  the  logic  of  the  reference  seems  to  be  Kheta’s  ingrati¬ 
tude  in  joining  a  combination  against  the  Egyptians,  who  had  sent  grain  for  her 
maintenance,  as  if  such  grain  had  not  been  sent  in  a  commercial  way,  but  from 
philanthropic  motives,  which,  of  course,  was  probably  not  the  case.  In  view  of 
the  mention  of  Rheta  among  the  defeated  peoples  in  the  H)min  of  Victory  (§617, 
1.  26),  the  question  arises  whether  Rheta  already  in  the  year  3  had  not  been  in  such 
close  S3niipathy  with  the  plans  of  these  allies  that  Merneptah  had  extended  against 
the  Rheta  also  the  campaign  on  which  the  Asiatic  peoples  and  towns  mentioned  in 
the  Hymn  of  Victory  (§617, 11.  26-28)  were  pillaged.  I  can  only  answer  this  ques¬ 
tion  in  the  affirmative.  The  plunder  of  a  few  towns  on  the  Hittite  border  in  Syria 
would  be  quite  sufficient,  in  the  eyes  of  an  oriental,  to  justify  the  boast  in  1.  26. 

>Or:  “  Joy  they  in  Thebes.** 


§583] 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


245 


Thebes.  He  has  turned  his  back  against  the  Meshwesh  (Jlf-1  ^ 
and  looks  [not]  on  the  land  of  Temeh  (T-m-h),  when  they  are 

Beginning  of  the  Campaign 

581.  - *  the  leaders  of  the  bowmen  in  front  thereof  to 

overthrow  the  land  of  Libya.  When  they  went  forth,  the  hand  of  the 
god  was  with  them;  (even)  Amon  was  with  them  as  their  shield.  The 

land  of  Egypt  was  commanded,  saying:  - [reajdy  to 

march  in  fourteen  days.” 

Merneptah^s  Dream 

582.  Then  his  majesty  saw  in  a  dream  as  if  a  statue  of  Ptah  were 

standing  before  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.  He  was  like  the  height  of  - 

- .  He  spake  to  him:  *‘Take  thou  (it),”  while  he  extended  to 

him  the  sword,^  ^‘and  banish  thou  the  fearful  heart  from  thee.” 
Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  spake  to  him:  “Lo,  30 - 

Approach  of  the  Two  Armies 

583.  —  infantry  and  chariotry  in  (great)  number*^  were  camped 
before  them  on  the  shore  (rwd)^  in  front  of  the  district  of  Perire  (Pr-yr), 

Lo,  the  wretched  chief  of  ^^[Libya] - in  the  night  of  the 

second  day  of  the  third  month  of  the  third  season  (eleventh  month) 
when  the  land  grew  light  (enough)  for  advancing  with  them.  The 
wretched  fallen  chief  of  Libya  came  at  the  time  of  the  third  day  of  the 
third  month  of  the  third  season  (eleventh  month),  and  he  brought 

3* - until  they  arrived.  The  infantry  of  his  majesty  went 

forth  together  with  his  chariotry,  Amon-Re  being  with  them,  and  the 
Ombite  (Set)  giving  to  them  the  hand. 


*It  is  clear  that  the  king’s  speech  is  concluded  in  the  lacuna,  and  that  the  march 
of  the  troops  now  begins. 

^Compare  the  frequent  reliefs  in  which  the  god  extends  a  sword  (hP^)  to  the 
king.  There  is  not  in  this  speech  any  warning  to  Mcrneptah  to  withhold  himself 
from  the  battle,  and  remain  at  home,  as  indicated  in  the  translation  of  Chabas 
{Eludes  sur  VantiquUi  historiquef  195).  This  old  misunderstanding  of  Chabas  has 
gained  general  currency  in  the  histories.  [Later:  See  W.  M.  Muller  {OrierUal- 
istische  LiUeraturzeitung,  V,  December,  1902,  477)  for  the  similarity  of  this  dream 
story  to  that  in  Herodotus,  II,  141.] 

<^The  answer  of  the  Pharaoh  was  evidently  very  short. 

rh‘t,  lit.,  a  list  or  statement*' 

«See  §  570,  note. 


246 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§584 


The  Battle 

584.  pEvery*]  man  33 - their  blood,  there  was  none 

that  escaped  among  them.  Lo,  the  bowmen  of  his  majesty  spent  six 
hours  of  destruction  among  them;  they  were  delivered  to  the  sword 

upon  34 - of  the  country.  Lo,  as  they  fought - ;  the 

wretched  chief  of  Libya  halted,  his  heart  fearing;  withdrew  (again), 

stopped,  knelt,  3S - pieaving"*]  sandals,  his  bow,  and  his  quiver 

in  haste  behind  [him],  and  every  [thing]  that  was  with  him.  r - 

his  limbs,  great  terror  coursed  in  his  members.  36aLo^  ftheyi]  slew 

- of  his  possessions,  his  ^equipment!,  his  silver,  his  gold,  his 

vessels  of  bronze,  the  furniture^  of  his  wife,  his  throne,  his  bows,  his 
arrows,  all  his  works,  which  he  had  brought  37from  his  land,  consisting 
of  oxen,  goats,  and  asses,  fand  all  were  carried  awayi]  to  the  palace,  to 
bring  them  in,  together  with  the  captives.  Lo,  the  wretched  chief  of 
Libya  was  in  speed  to  flee  *’by  himself*,  while  all  38the  people  among 

the  captains - among  the  wounded  of  the  sword.  Lo,  the  officers 

(5wn),  who  were  upon  the  horses  of  his  majesty,  set  themselves  after 
them - felled  with  39arrows,  carried  off,  slain, - . 

Retrospect 

585-  No  [man]  has  seen  it  in  the  annals  of  the  kings  of  Lower  Egypt; 
lo,  this  land  of  Egypt  was  in  [the]ir  power,  in  a  *’state’  of  weakness  in 
the  time  of  the  kings  of  Upper  Egypt,  4°so  that  their  hand  could  not 

be  repelled, - these  —  out  of  love  of  their  beloved  son,  in 

order  to  protect  Egypt  for  her  lord,  that  the  temples  of  Egypt  might  be 
saved,  and  in  order  to  announce  ^Hhe  mighty  power  of  the  [Good] 
God - . 

Escape  of  Libyan  Chief 

586.  [The  commandant]  of  the  fortress  of  the  West®  [sent]  a  report 
to  the  Court,  L.  P.  H.,  saying,  as  follows:  “The  fallen  Meryey  {Mw- 

»De  Rougd  found  a  block  containing  the  beginnings  of  11.  36-41;  they  are  to 
be  found  in  place  only  in  his  publication.  Later  (1901)  Legrain  found  the  same 
block  under  the  debris,  and  published  it  {Annates  du  service,  II,  269),  without  rec¬ 
ognizing  that  it  had  long  before  been  seen  and  copied  by  de  Roug6.  The  recovery 
of  this  block,  however,  shows  that  the  loss  at  the  beginnings  of  the  lines  is,  for  the 
main  part  of  the  inscription,  only  the  space  of  one  course  of  masonry. 

*>Or:  **  ornaments,'* 

cThis  is  the  fort  or  station  referred  to  by  Ramses  III  (IV,  340;  Harris,  516,  3). 


*587] 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


247 


has  come,  his  limbs  have  fled  because  of  his  ^cowardice*, 

and  (he)  passed  by  me,  by  favor  of  night,  in  safety.^  - 

want;  he  is  fallen,  and  every  god  is  for  Egypt.^  The  boasts  which  he 
uttered,  have  come  to  naught;  all  that  his  mouth  said  has  returned 
upon  his  (own)  head.  His  condition  is  not  known  (whether)  of  death 

-♦3|Tor  of  life"*] - .  Thou  hast  —  him  of  his  fame;  if  he  lives,  he 

will  not  (again)  command,  (for)  he  is  fallen,  an  enemy  of®  his  (own) 

troops.  It  is  thou  who  hast  taken  us,  to  cause  to  slay  - d 

in  the  land  of  Temeh  (Ty-m-h-w)  [and  of  Libya®].  They  have  put 
another  into  his  place,  from  among  his  brothers,  another  who  fights 
him,^  when  he  sees  him.  All  the  chiefs  are  *’disgustedi  - 

Triumphal  Return 

587.  pThen  returnedi]  the  captains  of  archers,  the  infantry  (mnfy't), 
and  chariotry;  every  contingent  of  the  army,  whether  recruits,  or  heavy 

armed  troops, «  carried  off  the  plunder^] - fdriving^  asses  before 

them,  laden  with  the  uncircumcised^  phalli  of  the  country  of  Libya, 
together  with  the  hands  of  every  country  that  was  with  them,  Clike  fch 


•Af  rwd. 

'^The  rendering  is  grammatically  uncertain;  it  may  possibly  also  be:  every 
god  has  overthrown  him  for  Egypt* s  sake** 

cfirugsch’s  text  ends  here. 

dLepsius*  text  begins  here. 

«Only  the  foreign  determinative  is  preserved. 

^This  pronoun  is  omitted  by  Diimichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  and  Mariette, 
Karnak, 

8 Owing  to  the  connection  in  the  following  line,  Jr  kf^^w  is  possibly  to  be 
rendered  **bore  the  captures**  But  see  I.  12.  In  any  case,  some  such  statement 
must  have  introduced  1.  46,  or  is  to  be  found  in  the  closing  words  of  1.  45. 

l^Lit.,  ** phalli  with  the  foreskins**  {^rn' Muller^s  objections 
(Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology^  1888,  147  ff.)  to  this  rendering, 
it  seems  to  me,  do  not  take  full  account  of  the  use  of  the  word  in  this  text.  He 
maintains  that  Jrn  /  —  *‘/wfn”  (long  ago  suggested  by  Chabas,  sur  Vantu 

quite  historiquCf  234,  n.  2)  means  simply  phallus,  because  Athribis  Stela  uses  it  in 
the  same  place  where  our  long  text  has  **  phallus”  or  interchangeably  with  **phal^ 
lus.**  But  krn’t  is  something  which  the  Sherden  and  the  other  allies  did  not  have 
(1.  54)  I  Moreover,  it  is  something  connected  with  the  phallus  which  they  did  not 
have.  As  the  phonetic  equivalence  Jrn*/— nbV  is  unexceptionable,  it  seems 
to  me  the  rendering  ”  foreskin**  is  very  probable.  The  question  of  the  homes  of 
these  people  is  in  greater  uncertainty  than  the  rendering  of  Jrn  /,  and  should  be 
decided  by  this  rendering  rather  than  the  reverse. 


248 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[5588 


on  the  grassi,  and  the  possessions  ^7 - the  enemies  of  their 

land.  Lo,  the  whole  land  rejoiced  to  heaven;  the  towns  and  the  dis¬ 
tricts  acclaimed  these  wonders  which  had  happened ;  the  Nile  - 

—  their  —  as  tribute  under  the  balcony,®  to  cause  his  majesty  to  see 
his  conquests. 

List  0}  Captives  and  Slain 

588.  List  of  the  captives  carried  off  from  this  land  of  Libya  and 

the  countries  which  he  brought  with  him;  likewise  the  property  ^9 - 

- ^  [betweejn  the  *^ch&teau®®  of  Merneptah-Hotephirma  [destroyer 

of]^^  Tehenu  (Ty-[hynw)  which  is  in  Perire  (Pr-yrr),  as  far  as  the  upper 
towns  of  the  country,  beginning  with  “ —  of  Merneptah-Hotephirma.” 
5®[Children  of  the  chief  of  Libya  whose]^  uncir¬ 
cumcised  phalli  [were  carried  off]  6  men 

Children  of  chiefs,  and  brothers  of  the  chief  of 
Libya,  slain,  whose  [uncircumcised]  phalli  were 

carried  off  s* - 

- Libyans,  slain,  whose  uncircumcised  phalli 

were  carried  off  6,359 

Total,  children  of  great  chiefs*  5* - 


•This  is  the  palace  balcony  on  which  the  Pharaoh  appeared  to  the  people. 
It  is  also  mentioned  in  a  similar  connection  in  Papyrus  Harris  {infra,  IV,  408), 
and  is  several  times  depicted  in  the  Amarna  tombs  (e.  g.,  Lepsius,  Denkmaler,  III, 
103-9).  Cf.  also  Harmhab  Decree  (II,  66,  1.  9). 

^Athribis  Stela,  1.  8  (§  600). 

cPr  m».  It  occurs  also  in  the  parallel  passage  in  the  Athribis  Stela  (§  600, 
1.  8),  and  twice  in  Papyrus  Harris  (5,  2,  and  31,  6,  one  of  which  was  north  of 
Heliopolis).  It  is  clear  that  the  limits  of  the  flight  and  pursuit  are  being  given  as 
in  the  battle  under  Ramses  III;  they  are  given  in  the  Athribis  Stela  (11.  8,  9)  as 
the  ch&teau  in  Perire  and  the  **inount  of  the  Horns  of  the  Earth;''  this  terminus  is 
the  same  as  under  Ramses  III,  and  of  course  is  the  rise  of  the  Libyan  desert,  or 
some  elevation  near  it,  upon  which  Ramses  III  had  built  a  town.  (The  term,  Horns 
of  the  Earth,"  is  also  used  of  the  southern  limit  of  territory  known  to  the  Egyptians.) 
Whether  the  beginning  point  of  the  flight,  viz.,  Perire,  is  the  same  as  H  ’t-S^"t, 
where  the  flight  began  under  Ramses  III,  is  perhaps  uncertain,  but  the  above  facts 
concerning  the  pr  m^,  and  the  parallel  character  of  the  two  invasions  would  cer¬ 
tainly  at  least  place  them  near  together,  and  it  is  probable  that  they  are  identical. 
(See  also  Pr-m  ^  y,  Zeitschrift  filr  dgyptische  Sprache,  40,  102.) 

^Brugsch  has  ** destroyer  of"  in  this  lacuna,  but  it  is  in  none  of  the  texts. 

^Probably  another  place-name. 

*§  601,  1.  10. 

sProbably  continued  by  1.  12  of  the  extract. 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


249 


§588] 


- [Sherjden  ( - dy-n  ^),  Shekelesh  (5  ^  -ife  ^  - 

Ekwesh  -y-w^ ®of  the  coun¬ 
tries  of  the  sea,®  who  had  no  fore-s3t>skins: 


Shekelesh  -k^  -rw-S  222®  men 

Making.  250^  hands 

Teresh  (Tw-rw-S^)  742®  men 

Making  790^  hands 

Sherden  (5  ^  -r  ^  -d-n-n  sa - 

[Making]  - 


[Ekjwesh  ( - ^  ~y~w  ^  -i  who  had  no  foreskins, 

slain,  whose  hands  were  carried  off,  (for)  they 
had  no  3s[foreskins] 

- in  heaps,  whose  uncircumcised  phalli  were 


carried  off  to  the  place  where  the  king  was  6,1  men 

Making  uncircumcised  phalli  36 - 

- whose  hands  [were  carried  off]  2,3 70^  men 

Shekelesh  (S^  and  Teresh  (Tw-rw-S^) 

who  came  as  enemies  of^  Libya  S7 - 

- Kehek,  and  Libyans,  carried  off  as  living 

prisoners  218  men 


®It  is  noticeable  that  this  designation,  both  here  and  in  the  Athribis  Stela  (1.  13), 
is  inserted  only  after  the  Ekwesh.  In  the  Athribis  Stela  Ekwesh  is  cut  off  by  a 
numeral  from  the  preceding,  showing  that  the  designation  there  belongs  only  to 
them. 

'’All  the  texts  indicate  a  lacuna  here  at  the  top  of  1.  53,  and  yet  the  half  of  the 
word  **  foreskin'*  at  the  bottom  of  1.  52  fits  exactly  the  other  half  at  the  top  of  1.  53. 
This  may  be  an  accident,  but  if  correct,  then  there  is  no  lacuna  at  top  of  1.  53, 
and  no  place  for  a  number  between.  The  number  corresponding  to  this  place  in 
the  Athribis  Stela  (viz.,  2201  +ap)  is  not  found  in  this  text  till  1.  56. 

cMiiller^s  212  (^Asien  und  Europa^  358)  is  an  error;  all  four  texts  have 

222. 

dWhy  the  number  of  hands  cut  off  should  exceed  the  number  of  men,  when 
one  hand  was  cut  from  each  man,  does  not  appear. 

«Lepsius,  DenkmiUer,  has  750. 

^ Apparently  only  6,tii  of  the  6,359  mentioned  in  1.  51  were  carried  before  the 
king. 

sSo  Dumichen,  Historische  Inschriften^  and  Lepsius,  Denkmdler;  but  Mariette, 
Karnaky  and  Roug6,  Inscriptions  hieroglyphiques^  have  2,362  (none  has  72  as  in 
Muller,  Asien  und  Euro  pa,  358). 

^*^Of**  is  here  possessive  — **  belonging  to,**  not  in  a  hostile  sense. 


250 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH  [§589 


Women  of  the  fallen  chief  of  Libya,  whom  he 
brought  with  him,  being  alive  12  Libyan  women 

Total  carried  off  5* -  9>376  people* 


List  of  Spoil 

589.  Weapons  of  war  which  were  in  their  hands, 
carried  off  as  plunder:  copper  swords  of  the 
Meshwesh  (M-I  ^  9>i  1 1 

59 - b  120,214 

Horses  which  bore  the  fallen  chief  of  Libya  and 
the  children  [of  the  chjief  of  Libya,  carried  off 
alive,  pairs  12*^ 

^^Possessions - ^  Meshwesh - ®  which 

the  army  of  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  who  fought 
the  fallen  of  Libya,  captured:  various  cattle  1,308^ 
Goats  — 

- various  —  64* 


•This  is  probably  the  total  of  the  slain,  Libyan  and  non-Libyan,  for  the  corre¬ 
sponding  number  in  the  Athribis  Stela  (1.  17)  has  before  it:  fallen  of  Libya, 
total  number;”  the  non-Libyan  foreigners  being  thus  merely  designated  as  of  the 
Libyan  party.  Of  the  actual  Libyans  slain  we  have  a  total  of  6,359  (1-  Si)»  and  of 
non-Libyan  foreigners  at  least  2,370  (1.  56).  This  makes  a  total  of  8,729,  omitting 
a  few  hundred  non-Libyans,  who  would  doubtless  bring  the  total  up  to  9,376,  as 
given  in  our  text  above.  But  it  is  possible  that  this  number  refers  only  to  captives, 
in  this  case,  as  the  Athribis  Stela  gives  at  least  9,300  killed  (1.  17),  the  total  of  killed 
and  captured  would  be  over  18,000 1  See  also  Muller,  Asien  und  Europa,  358, 
n.  5. 

'^Probably  smaller  weapons;  at  the  end  is  the  determinative  of  a  foreign 
country,  probably  Libya. 

cDumichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  shows  an  uncertain  100,  and  a  i ;  Mariette, 
Karnak,  idem;  Rougd,  Inscriptions  hieroglyphiques,  a  10  and  a  i;  Lepsius,  Denk- 
mdler,  remains  of  the  same;  Brugsch  {Geschichte,  576)  has  113.  But  the  photo¬ 
graph  is  practically  certain  as  12. 

^The  last  word  indicates  men,  as  shown  by  the  determinative. 

•This  space  was  left  empty  on  the  monument;  Roug^,  Inscriptions  hiiro- 
glyphiques,  says:  “Cette  partie  n'a  pas  ^t^  grav^e;”  Lepsius,  Denkmdler, 
“leer.” 

fSo  Dumichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  and  Mariette,  Karnak;  Roug^, 
Inscriptions  hieroglyphiques,  and  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  have  1,307. 

8S0  Roug€,  Inscriptions  hiSroglyphiques,  and  Lepsius,  Denkmdler;  Diimichen, 
Historische  Inschriften,  and  Mariette,  Karnak,  have  54. 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


251 


Silver  drinking- vessels  — * 

(P vessels,  -vessels,  swords,  armor, 

knives,^  and  various  vessels  3>i74^ 

They  were  taken  away  - fire  was  set  to  the  camp  and 

their  tents  of  leather. 

Triumph  in  the  Palace 

590.  Their  lord,  the  king,  appeared,  L.  P.  H.,  in  the  broad-hall  of 

the  palace,  while  ^3[rthe  court  acclaimed^]  his  majesty,  L.  P.  H.,  rejoicing 
at  his  appearance,  which  he  made.  The  servants  [of  his  majesty] 
exulted  to  heaven;  the  suite  on  both  sides - . 

Merneptah^s  Speech 

591,  ^^[His  majesty  said]:  '' - ^  because  of  the  good  which 

Re  has  done  for  my  ka  I  have  delivered  their  utterance,  speaking  as  a 
god,  who  giveth  might,  whose  fdecree^®  has  caused  that  King  Merne- 

ptah,  L.  P.  H.,  - should  unite  —  as  subjects^  in  the  midst  of 

their  town;  Kush  likewise  bears  the  tribute  of  the  conquered.  I  cause 

him  to  see  (it)  in  my  hand  in  —  - his  chief,  bringing 

his  impost  each  year,  in  —  a  great  slaughter  being  made  among  them. 

He  that  lives  shall  fill  the  temples  - .  Their  fallen  chief, 

fleeing  before  me,  I  have  put  into - slay  him.  He  is  made  a 

roast,  snared  like  a  wild  fowl.®  I  have  given  the  land  - for 

every  god.  They  are  born  ^of  the  mouth^  of  the  sole  lord  of  Egypt. 

Fallen  is  the  transgressor  — . . ....  ^9 - ^ 

victorious  is  Re,  mighty  against  the  Nine  Bows;  Sutekh  giveth  victory 
and  might  to  Homs,  rejoicing  in  tmth,  smiting  — ,  King  Merneptah, 

L.  P.  H.  I  am  - weighty,  he  is  not  taken.  The  Libyans 

plotted  evil  things,  to  do  them  in  Egypt.  See !  their  ^protectors'*  are  fallen ! 


•Left  empty  on  original,  as  in  1.  60;  after  it  are  the  fragmentary  names  of  the 
two  sorts  of  vessels,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  lacuna  did  not  contain  a  numeral. 
In  that  case,  the  miscellaneous  list  begins  with  the  silver  vessels. 

^With  determinative  of  copper. 

cSo  Dttmichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  Mariette,  Karnaky  and  Lepsius,  Denk* 
mUler;  Roug^,  Inscriptions  hUroglyphiques,  has  3,175. 

<lThe  lacuna  here  is  evidently  longer  than  usual  at  the  beginning  of  the  lines. 
•The  word  has  the  determinative  of  speech. 

viz.,  **  tax-paying  subjects,'* 
sRamses  III  makes  use  of  the  same  figure  (IV,  41). 


252 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§  59* 


I  have  slain  them,  and  they  are  made  ^ - ^  7i - I  have 

made  Egypt  to  flow  with  a  river;  the  people  love  me,  as  I  love  them, 
and  give  to  them  breath  for  their  cities.  There  is  rejoicing  over  my 

name  in  heaven  and  earth  - they  found.  My  time 

hath  achieved  beautiful  things  in  the  mouth(s)  of  the  youth,  according 
to  the  greatness  of  the  excellent  things  which  I  did  for  them.  It  is 

true  throughout  - adoring  the  excellent  lord,  who  has 

taken  the  Two  Lands,  King  Merneptah,  L.  P. 

Reply  oj  the  Court 

592.  They  said:  ‘‘How  great  are  these  things  which  have  happened 

to  Egypt! - 74 - Libya  is  like  a  petitioner,  brought 

as  a  captive.  Thou  hast  made  them  to  be  like  grasshoppers,  for  every 

road  is  strewed  with  their  ^sjTbodiesT]^ - [HbestowingT]  thy 

provision  in  the  mouth  of  the  needy.  We  lie  down  with  joy  at  any  time;^ 
there  being  no  7^ - c . 

II.  THE  CAIRO  COLUMN‘S 

593.  This  document  first  furnished  the  date  of  Merne- 
ptah^s  great  Libyan  victory,  and  was  therefore  formerly  of 
greater  importance  than  at  present. 

It  contained  a  shorter  account  of  the  announcement  of 
the  invasion  to  the  king,  which  fills  out  the  lacuna  in  the 
great  Karnak  Inscription  (§  579,  11.  12,  13),  preceding  the 
announcement.  The  historical  content  of  the  document  is 
as  follows: 


»Bnigsch,  Worterhuch^  Supplement,  894. 

^There  is  perhaps  a  reference  to  this  in  the  Athribis  Stela  (recto,  I.  4),  where 
the  king  is  called:  one  *^who  causes  Egypt  to  sleep  until  the  morning**  LI.  76,  77 
contain  only  scanty  fragments  of  conventional  phrases;  11.  78  and  79  have  each 
only  two  signs  visible  at  the  bottom.  They  must  be  near  the  end  of  the  inscrip¬ 
tion,  but  the  exact  number  of  lines  lost  at  the  end  is  uncertain. 

cThese  are  the  last  two  lines  of  text  preserved;  they  are  too  fragmentary  for 
use  here.  Mariette,  Karnak  (Texte,  75),  states  that  there  are  two  more  lines, 
but  his  plate  (55)  gives  11.  78-80,  without  any  visible  signs. 

^Section  of  a  granite  column  now  in  the  Cairo  Museum,  first  noticed  in  the 
court  of  the  building  of  the  minister  of  public  instruction  in  Cairo  by  Brugsch 
{Geschichtej  577,  note);  then  removed  to  the  museum  and  published  (without 
the  reliefs)  by  Maspero  {Zeitschrift  fUr  agyptische  Sprache^  1881,  118). 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


253 


5  597] 


594*  Above  is  a  scene  showing  Memeptah  receiving  a 
sword  from  a  god,®  who  says  to  him: 

“I  cause  that  thou  cut  down  the  chiefs  of  Libya  whose  invasion 
thou  hast  turned  back.” 

595-  Below  was  an  inscription  in  vertical  lines,  of  which 
only  the  following  is  now  visible: 

‘Year  5,  second  month  of  the  third  season  (tenth  month).  One 
came  to  say  to  his  majesty:  “The  wretched  [chief]  of  Libya  has  invaded 
*with*  — ,*»  being  men  and  women,  Shekelesh  (S  ^-k-rw-P)  * - .”<= 

m.  THE  ATHRIBIS  STELA"* 

596-  This  monument  contains  a  shorter  account  of  Meme- 
ptah’s  Libyan  campaign,  closing  with  a  list  of  the  killed,  the 
captured,  and  the  spoil.  It  forms  a  useful  supplement  to 
the  Kamak  document,  furnishing,  among  other  data,  the 
exact  date  of  the  battle  in  Memeptah’s  fifth  year. 

Recto 

597.  A  relief  at  the  top  shows  Atum  at  the  left  and  Amon- 
Re  at  the  right,  both  seated.  The  scene  before  Atum  is 
lost;  before  Amon-Re  appears  Memeptah,  who  receives  the 
sword  from  the  god,  and  leads  to  him  at  the  same  time 
seven  captives. 


^Called  only  “dieu  innomm€”  by  Maspero,  who  has  not  published  the  relief; 
but  he  states  that  the  heads  are  lost,  and  the  god  therefore  unrecognizable. 

Wame  of  a  country,  of  which  only  “ - ”  is  now  visible. 

cOnly  a  few  traces. 

dA  granite  stela  from  Athribis  in  the  southern  Delta,  now  in  Cairo;  published 
without  reliefs  by  Maspero  (Zeitschri}i  fiir  dgypHsche  Sprache^  1883,  65-67),  It 
is  inscribed  on  both  sides.  A  piece  broken  off  vertically  through  the  ends  of  the 
horizontal  lines  is  now  lost,  depriving  us  of  several  words  at  the  end  of  each  line 
of  the  recto,  and  at  the  beginning  of  each  line  of  the  verso.  The  exact  amount  of 
the  loss  is  determined  on  the  verso  at  the  beginning  of  1.  g,  by  comparison  with  the 
Karnak  Inscription  (§  588,  1.  49).  As  Maspero  has  published  only  from  the 
squeeze,  his  text  (used  here)  is  sometimes  uncertain;  and  a  collation  of  the  original 
is  much  needed. 


254 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§598 

Below  is  an  inscription  of  sixteen  lines,  mostly  conven¬ 
tional  praise  of  the  king.  It  contains  the  following  refer¬ 
ences  to  the  campaign  against  the  Libyans: 

IfUfoduction;  Valor  of  Merneptah 

598.  Year  5,  third  month  of  third  season  (eleventh  month),  third 
day,  under  the  majesty  of  King  [Merneptah] - achieving  his 


fame  against  the  land  of  Temeh . ♦ . they  speak  of 

his  victories  in  the  land  of  Mefshwesh^ . ^ . who  puts 

Libya  under  the  might  of  his  terror . .  ’making  their 


camps  into  wastes  of  the  Red  Land,  taking - *every  herb  that 

came  forth  from  their  fields.  No  field  grew,  to  keep  alive* . . .  9.  .  . 
*°Re  himself  has  cursed  the  people  since  they  crossed  into  fEgypt^] 
"with  one  accord.  They  are  delivered  to  the  sword  in  the  hand  of 

Merneptah-Hotephirma . ". . . .  The  families  of  Libya  are 

scattered  upon  the  dykes  like  mice  -  ^^seizing  among  them 

like  a  hawk,  (while)  there  is  found  among  them  no  place  of  frefuge"*] 

- *^like  Sekhmet.  His  arrows  fail  not  among  the  limbs  of  his 

enemies;  every  survivor'^  among  them  fis  carried  off  as  a  living  captive^ 
*sThey  live  on  herbs  like  fwild^  cattle - . 

Verso 

599.  The  other  side  of  the  stela  shows,  at  the  top,  another 
relief  like  the  first,  except  that  the  two  gods  are  here  Har- 
akhte  and  Sutekh.  Below  it  is  an  inscription  of  nineteen 
lines,  of  which  the  first  four  contain  only  the  customary 
fulsome  laudation  of  the  king.  Specific  references  to  the 
Libyan  campaign  begin  with  1.  5,  as  follows: 

List  of  Shifty  Captives,  and  Spoil 

5qo.  5 -  the  Meshwesh,  desolated  forever  by  the  might 

of  the  valiant  warrior,  the  Mighty  Bull,  who  gores  the  Nine  Bows. 

6 - of]  the  captives  which  the  mighty  sword  of  the  Pharaoh, 

L.  P.  H.,  carried  off  from  the  fallen  of  Libya  ’ - who  were  on 


•There  is  an  obscure  reference  in  1.  9  to  the  wells. 
^)f  course  read  sp  nb. 


§6oi] 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


25s 

the  western  shore, ^  whom  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods,  Atum,  lord  of  the 
Two  Lands  of  On,  Harakhte,  Ptah-South-of-His-Wall,  lord  of  the  life  of 
the  Two  Lands,  and  Sutekh,  gave  *[to]  King  Merneptah;  (and  of)  the 

slain  in  r — ^  between  the  ^ch^teau^^  ^>Merneptah-Hotephirma - 

[Tehenu,  which  is  in]^  Perire  (Pr~yrw)  and  the  mount  of  the  Horns 
of  the  Earth/'  Statement  thereof: 

601.  Children  of  the  wretched  fallen  chief  of 
Libya,  ^°[whose  uncircumcised  phalli  were  car¬ 
ried  off]*^  6  men 

Children  of  chiefs,  brothers  of  the  wretched, 
fallen  chief  of  Libya,  carried  off^  as  the 


- ®  of  Libya,  slain,  whose  phalli  were  carried 

off 

xa - Qf  tjjg  families  of  Libya,  slain,  whose 

phalli  were  carried  off 
13 - 

Ekwesh  ( ^ ^ -y-^  [ofp  the  countries  of 
the  sea,  whom  had  brought  the  wretched 
*^^f alien  chief  of  Libya,^  'whose*]  hands 
[were  carried  offji 
Shekelesh 
Teresh  {Tw-rw-i 

15  -  Libya,  and  Sherden  (5^ 

slain 

16  _ 


6,200  ^men 

—  men 
200  men 


2,201  men 
200'  men 
722  men 

—  men 
32  men 


^Rwd;  see  Karnak  Inscription  (§  583,  1.  30). 

^See  Karnak  (§  588,  1.  49  and  note). 
cKarnak  (§  588),  1.  50. 

^Karnak  differs,  having:  **  whose  [uncircumcised]  phalli  were  carried  off** 
«With  the  determinative  of  people,  probably  belonging  to  families f*  now  lost 
in  the  lacuna. 

«Karnak  (§588,  1.  51)  has  6,359.  RKarnak  (§  588,  1.  52). 

liRestored  from  context;  Egyptian  order  of  words;  chief**  is  the  subject. 
‘Karnak  (§  588,  1.  54). 

i  Restored  from  parallel  passages  in  Karnak,  e.  g.,  1.  54. 
l^Karnak  (5  588,  1.  56)  has  2,370. 

'Karnak  (§588,  1.  53)  has  222. 


“Karnak  (}  588,  1.  53)  has  74a. 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§6oi 


256 


Women  of  the  wretched  chief  of  Libya  [12  Libyan]*  women 

- the  fallen  of  Libya,  total  number  9,300 

»8 -  5,224  [+*]•= 

Bows, -  2,000  [+3d 

19 - gold - . 

IV.  HYMN  ON  THE  VICTORY  OVER  THE  LIBYANS**  (ISRAEL 

stela) 

602.  This  composition  is  one  of  a  class  common  in  the 
Nineteenth  Dynasty.  It  is  a  poetic  encomium  in  celebration 
of  the  great  victory  of  Memeptah  over  the  Libyans  in  the 
fifth  year  of  his  reign.  It  adds  nothing  to  the  facts  furnished 
by  the  Kamak  inscription  (§§  572-92)  concerning  this  vic¬ 
tory,  except  the  picturesque  description  of  the  joy  and 
relief  among  the  Egyptians  (11.  21-26,  §616).  Without  the 
Kamak  inscription  little  could  have  been  gathered  from  this 
document  of  the  importance  of  Memeptah’s  victory,  or  the 
gravity  of  the  danger  from  which  it  brought  relief;  for,  as 
Spiegelberg  has  remarked,  it  never  even  mentions  the  north¬ 
ern  allies  of  the  Libyans.  Many  of  the  descriptive  passages 
too,  are  so  figurative  and  highly  colored  as  to  be  unintelli¬ 
gible. 


^Karnak  (§  588,  1.  57).  '>Karnak  (§  588,  1.  58)  has  9,376. 

cThis  numeral  refers  to  the  weapons,  etc.,  beginning  in  1.  58  (Karnak,  §  589). 

dOn  a  stela  discovered  by  Petrie  in  the  ruins  of  Merneptah^s  mortuary  temple 
at  Thebes,  in  1896.  The  inscription  occupies  the  back  of  the  stela  of  Amenhotep 
III,  taken  from  his  mortuary  temple  by  Merneptah  (see  II,  §  878).  It  was  first 
published  by  Spiegelberg  {ZeUschri^i  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  34,  i  ff.),  and  again  by 
him  {Six  Temples^  Pis.  XIII,  XIV).  I  had  also  photographs,  kindly  sent  me  by  E. 
Brugsch-Bey,  made  by  him  on  a  large  scale  from  a  squeeze.  There  is  a  duplicate 
original  in  Karnak,  of  which  only  a  fragment  has  survived.  It  is  published  by 
Dumichen  {Historische  Inschrijtenj  I,  i),  and  by  Erman  {Zeitschrijt  fUr  agyptische 
SprachCf  34).  I  have  collated  it  for  the  accompanying  translation.  A  consider¬ 
able  literature  on  the  Israel  passage  has  arisen,  which  will  be  found  on  p.  257,  note. 
On  the  elucidation  of  the  text  in  general,  besides  Spiegelberg^s  commentary  (with 
his  publication  of  the  text),  see:  Piehl,  Sphinx^  IV,  125;  MUller,  Recueilt  XX, 
31,  32;  Griffith,  Proceedings  oj  the  Society  of  Biblical  Arch<Bology,  XIX,  1897, 
293-300. 


S6o3] 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


257 


603.  The  monument  has  attracted  wide  attention,  because 
of  the  reference  to  Israel  in  the  last  section.  This  is  the 
earliest  mention  of  Israel  known  to  us  in  literature,  not 
excluding  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  themselves.  It  occurs  in 
a  clear-cut  strophe  (§  617)  of  twelve  lines,  which  forms  the 
conclusion  of  the  composition.  This  strophe  opens  and 
closes  with  a  couplet  containing  a  universal  statement  of  the 
subjugation  of  foreign  peoples  in  general,  while  the  eight 
lines  between  are  a  rapid  list  of  certain  of  the  defeated  for¬ 
eigners,  among  whom  is  Israel.  The  assertion  of  the  defeat 
of  Israel  is  so  brief  and  bald  that  little  can  be  drawn  from 
it.  Moreover,  it  is  made  up  of  conventional  phrases,  applied 
also  to  other  peoples.  Much  has  been  made  of  the  second 
phrase,  “/fis  seed  (pr  t)  is  not."  It  has  been  applied  to  the 
seed*  of  Israel  and  referred  to  the  slaying  of  the  male  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  Israelites  by  the  Egyptians !  But  this  phrase  is 


•The  treatment  which  this  phrase  has  received  by  some  biblical  scholars 
furnishes  another  curious  example  of  the  totally  misleading  use  of  such  evidence, 
where  it  is  received  at  second  hand.  Thus  in  the  Expositor  (March,  1897,  i6i, 
note)  we  find  the  statement  that  Spiegelberg  renders  this  phrase  (“/w’s  seed  is  not*^) 
thus:  ** without  fear**  (!),  An  examination  shows  that  Spiegelberg,  translating 
into  German,  quite  properly  rendered  the  phrase:  “ohne  Frucht”  (“without  fruit'’). 
The  German  “Frucht”  was  then  misread  by  the  writer  in  the  Expositor  as 
“Furcht”-»“fear”I  From  the  Expositor  this  absurdity  then  passed  into  other 
articles  and  gained  currency.  Some  of  the  essays  on  the  passage  are  therefore 
to  be  used  with  the  greatest  caution;  but  see:  Hommel,  Neue  Kirchliche  Zeitschrift, 
VII,  581-86;  MUller,  Independent^  July  9,  1896,  940;  Scllin,  Neue  Kirchliche 
Zeitschrift,  VII,  502-14;  Molandre,  Revue  des  religions^  September-October,  1897, 
Steindorff,  Zeitschrift  filr  alttestamentliche  Wissenschafty  X\T,  1896,  330-33;  and 
Mittheilungen  des  Deutschen  Paldstinischen  VereinSy  1896,  45,  46;  Marshall; 
Expository  July,  1896;  Petrie,  Contemporary  Review y  May,  1896,  617-27;  and 
Century  Magasiney  August,  1896;  Spiegelberg,  Sitzungsherichte  der  Preussischen 
AkademiCy  1896,  593  ff.;  Naville,  Recueily  XX,  32-37;  Brandt,  Theologische  Tijd- 
schrifty  1896,  505-12;  Fries,  SphinXy  I,  208  flF.;  Daressy,  Revue  archeologiqucy 
XXXIII,  263  ff.;  Wiedemann,  Le  Musiony  XVII,  89-107;  Hal6v}%  Revue  semi- 
iiquey  1896,  285  ff.  Breasted,  Biblical  Worldy  January,  1897,  62-68.  A  useful 
presentation  of  the  various  views  on  the  passage  is  given  by  Moore,  Presbyterian 
Quarterlyy  January,  1898. 


258  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH  [J604 


found  five  times*  elsewhere  in  the  inscriptions  referring  to 
a  number  of  other  peoples  as  follows: 

604.  I.  “Those  who  reached  my  border  are  desolated, 
their  seed  is  not’'  (referring  to  northern  invaders).** 

2.  “  The  Libyans  and  the  Seped  are  wasted,  their  seed  is 
not.’”’ 

3.  “  The  fire  has  penetrated  us,  our  seed  is  not”  (words  of 
defeated  Libyans).** 

4.  “  Their  cities  are  made  ashes,  wasted,  desolated;  their 
seed  is  not”  (referring  to  the  Meshwesh).* 

5.  “^GoreiP  is  the  chief  of  ^Amor\ . his  seed  is 

not.”^ 

60s.  The  words,  “his  (their,  our)  seed  is  not,”  are, 
therefore,  a  conventional  phrase  applicable  to  any  defeated 
and  plundered  people,  and  cannot  possibly  designate  an 
incident  peculiar  to  the  history  of  Israel,  like  the  slaying  of 
the  male  children( !).  Israel,  clearly  located  among  Pales¬ 
tinian  peoples  by  the  inscription,  was  defeated  and  plundered 
by  Memeptah.  This  inscription  is  not  the  only  evidence  of 
a  campaign  by  him  in  Palestine,  although  the  fact  seems  to 
have  been  entirely  overlooked  in  the  discussion  of  the  Israel 
passage.  Memeptah  was  in  Asia  in  his  third  year,  as  the 
journal  of  a  border  commandant  shows  (§633,  VI.  9;  §635, 
V,  5)- 

606.  An  invasion  of  Palestine  by  Memeptah  is  further 


•See  Breasted,  Biblical  Worlds  January,  1897,  66,  Three  of  these  examples 
were  quoted  also  by  Spiegelberg  {Zeitschrifl  jUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  34,  23).  I 
have  there  rendered  pr’t  2iS  ** grain**  but  further  study  of  the  parallel  texts  has 
led  me  to  modify  that  rendering. 

hWar  of  Ramses  Ill’s  eighth  year  against  sea-peoples  (IV,  66,  1.  23). 
cDiimichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  I,  XXXIV,  1.  36. 
dlibyan  war  of  Ramses  Ill’s  fifth  year  (IV,  43,  1.  47). 

®Dtimichen,  Historische  Inschriften,  I,  XX,  1.  2. 
f Libyan  war  of  Ramses  Ill’s  fifth  year  (IV,  39,  11.  13,  14). 


56o8] 


LIBYAN -MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


259 


evident  from  the  epithet  assumed  by  him  among  his  titles: 
‘^Binder  of  Gezer  (k^  -d^  which  town  he  must  have 
captured  and  punished  after  revolt,  as  indicated  also  in  our 
Hymn  of  Victory  (1.  27).  For  the  mention  of  a  specific 
town,  or  even  nation,  in  such  an  epithet,  in  a  titulary  must 
refer  to  some  definite  occurrence.  In  the  same  way  Ramses 
III  called  himself  in  his  titulary  “Conqueror  of  the  Mesh- 
wesh  (IV,  84),  and  had  the  records  of  his  defeat  of  the 
Meshwesh  perished,  we  should  still  be  justified  in  con¬ 
cluding  that  he  had  overthrown  them.’’  It  is  certain,  there¬ 
fore,  that  Memeptah  campaigned  in  Palestine,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  Israel  there  suffered  defeat  and  pillage 
at  his  hands. 

Date  and  Introduction 

607,  *Year  5,  third  month  of  the  third  season  (eleventh  month),  third 
day,  under  the  majesty  of  Horns:  Mighty  Bull,  Rejoicing‘s  in  Truth; 
King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt:  Binre-Meriamon,  Son  of  Re:  Meme- 
ptah-Hotephirma,  magnifying  might,  exalting  the  victorious  sword  of 
Homs,  mighty  Bull,  smiter  of  the  Nine  Bows,  whose  name  is  given 
forever  and  ever. 

The  Great  Deliverance 

608.  His  ^victories  are  published  in  all  lands,  to  cause  that  every 
land  together  may  see,  to  cause  the  glory  of  his  conquests  to  appear; 
King  Merneptah,^^  the  Bull,  lord  of  strength,  who  slays  his  foes,  beautiful 
upon  the  field  of  victory,  when  his  onset®  occurs;  the  Sun,^  driving 


aFrom  an  inscription  of  thirteen  lines  in  the  temple  of  Amflda,  published  by 
Bouriant  {Recueil^  18,  159,  160).  It  records  a  revolt  in  Wawat,  which  Merneptah 
subdued,  “  seeking  out  the  enemy  in  this  entire  land^  to  prevent  their  — 1  to  revolt  a 
second  time^*  (1.  lo).  The  publication  is  so  inaccurate  that  a  translation  of  the 
whole  is  quite  impossible. 

'^See  a  similar  epithet  applied  to  Thutmose  IV  (II,  822). 
cThe  sign  is  (“6e  high'"),  but,  as  Piehl  has  remarked  {Sphinx,  IV,  126), 
the  variants  show  that  h^y,  **  rejoice,"  is  to  be  read. 

dThe  double  name  in  the  text  is  from  here  on  abbreviated  as  above. 

®A  word  {hnd)  used  especially  of  the  charge  of  a  bull.  (See  Piehl,  Sphinx, 
IV,  128.) 

^Text  has  **Shu,"  a  sun-god.  See  Piehl,  ibid.,  127. 


26o 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§609 


away  3the  storm  which  was  over  Eg3rpt,  allowing  Egypt  to  see  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  removing  the  mountain  of  copper  from  the  neck  of  the  people 
so  that  he  might  give  breath  to  the  people  who  were  smothered.  He 
gratified  the  heart  of  Memphis  on  their  foes,  making  Tatenen  rejoice 
over  his  enemies.  He  opened  the  gates  of  the  walled  city®  which  were 
stopped  up,  and  caused  ^his  temples  to  receive  their  food  (even).  King 
Merneptah,  the  unique  one,  who  establishes  the  hearts  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  myriads,  so  that  breath  enters  into  their  nostrils  at  the 
sight  of  him.  He  has  penetrated  the  land  of  Temeh  in  his  lifetime, 
and  put  eternal  fear  Hn  the  heart  of  the  Meshwesh.  He  has  turned 
back  Libya,  who  invaded  Egypt,  and  great  fear  of  Egypt  is  in  their 
hearts 

The  Rout  of  the  Libyans 

609.  Their  advanced  columns^  they  left  behind  them,  their  feet 
made  no  stand,  but  fled.  Their  archers  threw  down  their  bows,  and 
the  heart  of  their  fleet  ones  was  weary  ^with  marching.  They  loosed 
their  water  skins®  and  threw  them  to  the  ground,  their  ^  were  taken 
and  thrown  out. 


The  Fall  of  the  Libyan  Chief 

610.  The  wretched,  fallen  chief  of  Libya,  fled  by  favor  of  night 
alone,®  with  no  plume  upon  his  head,  his  two  feet  ffailed^.  His  women 
were  taken  ’before  his  face,  the  grain  of  his  supplies  was  plundered,  and 
he  had  no  water  in  the  skin  to  keep  him  alive.  The  face  of  his  brothers 
was  hostile  to  slay  him,  one  fought  another  among  his  leaders.^  Their 
camp  was  burned  and  made  a  roast,®  all  his  possessions  were  food  ®for 
the  troops.  When  he  arrived  in  his  country,  he  was  the  complaint  of 
every  one  in  his  land.  fAshamed^,  he  bowed  himself^  down,  an  evil 


•Memphis.  ^Lit.,  ** their  marchers  forward” 

cNot  “tents”  (Miiller,  Recueil,  XX,  31),  which  is  a  masculine  noun  (see 
Harkhuf,  I,  353,  1.  20,  and  Karnak,  §589,  1.  62),  while  **  water  skin”  above, 
is  feminine.  Tents  were  not  borne  by  the  troops  on  the  march. 

<'Spiegelberg  has:  “ihre  Sacke  (?)  wurden  genommen  und ausgeschUttet  (?).” 

«Cf.  Karnak,  §  586,  1.  41.  ^Compare  Karnak,  1.  44. 

aThe  figure  is  that  of  a  snared  bird  in  Karnak  (1.  67),  where  the  same  phrase 
occurs  (see  also  Rosellini,  Monumenti  Storici,  139, 1.  4,  for  the  same  phrase).  The 
figure  is  continued  above  in  the  next  parallel  phrase. 

hRead  isp  f  ksw^  as  in  Sinuhe  (11.  17,  18,  I,  493). 


LIBYAN. MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION 


261 


§612] 


fate  removed  (his)  plume.  They  all  spoke  against  him,  among  the 
inhabitants  of  his  city:  ‘‘He  is  in  the  power  of  the  gods,  the  lords  of 
Memphis;  ®the  lord  of  Egypt  has  cursed  his  name,  Meryey  - 

y^-y),  the  abomination  of  Memphis,  from  son  to  son  of  his  family, 
forever.  Binre-Meriamon  is  in  pursxiit  of  his  children;  Merneptah- 
Hotephirma  is  appointed  to  be  his  fate.’^ 

Merneptah^s  Fame  in  Libya 

611.  He  has  become  a  *°proverb®  for  Libya  (R^-bw);  the  youth 
say  to  youth,  concerning  his  victories:  “It  has  not  been  done  to  us 
HDefore*  since  the  time  of  Re,”  say  they.^  Every  old  man  says  to  his 
son:  “Alas  for  Libya!”  They  have  ceased  to  live  in  the  pleasant 
fashion  of  walking  in  the  field;  their  going  about  is  stopped  in  a  single 
**day.  The  Tehenu  are  consumed  in  a  single  year.  Sutekh  has  turned 
his  back  upon  their  chief;  their  settlements  are  desolated  with  his 
J’consentl  There  is  no  work  of  carrying  r — in  these  days.  Con¬ 
cealment  is  good;  there  is  safety  in  the  cavern.*^  The  great  lord  of 
Egypt,  possessor  of  might  “and  victory!  Who  will  fight,  knowing  his 
stride?  The  fool,  the  witless  is  he  who  receives  him;®  he  shall  not 
know  the  morrow,  who  transgresses  his  boundary. 

Divine  Protection  of  Egypt 

612.  Since  the  time  of  the  gods,  say  they,  Egypt  has  been  the  only 
daughter  of  Re;  his  son  is  he  who  ^^sits  upon  the  throne  of  Shu.  No 
one  can  make  a  design  to  invade  her  people,  for  the  eye  of  every  god  is 
behind  him  who  would  violate  her;  it  (the  eye)^  captures  the  rear  of  her 
foes.  ^ ^  great  wonder  has  happened  for  Egypt,  ^he 


•Lit.,  has  become  the  striking  of  a  proverb  {sdd't);^*  compare  the  Arabic 

^It  is  the  Libyan  youth  who  speak,  in  spite  of  their  reference  to  Re.  The 
Puntites  are  also  made  to  refer  to  Re  in  Hatshepsut’s  reliefs. 
cSpiegelberg  suggests  “  Korbe.” 
dSee  Muller,  RecueU^  XX,  31. 

•Meaning  his  onset  in  battle. 

fThe  feminine  pronoun  (n/j,  **she**)  above  translated  might  refer  to 
Egypt,  but  the  parallelism  shows  that  it  must  refer  to  which  is  feminine. 

sThis  phrase,  to  the  end  of  1.  13,  is  corrupt. 

*»Lit.,  *'the  hand  of  whichP 


262 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§613 


power  of  which  has  made  her  invader  a  living  prisoner.  The  divine 
king  I'exultsi  over  his  enemies,  in  the  presence  of  Re.  Meryey  {M-r  ^  - 
y^-y),  the  evil-doer,  whom  the  god,  the  lord  who  is  in  Memphis,  has 
overthrown,  he  has  been  judged  ^swith  him  in  Heliopolis,  and  the  divine 
ennead  declared  him  guilty  of  his  crimes. 

Merneptah  Divinely  Appointed 

613.  The  All-Lord  has  said:  “Give  the  sword  to  my  son,  the 
upright  of  heart,  the  good  and  kindly  Merneptah,  the  ^champion^  on 
behalf  of  Memphis,  the  advocate  of  ^^Heliopolis,  who  opens  the  towns 
that  were  closed  up.  Let  him  set  free  multitudes  who  are  bound  in 
every  district,  let  him  give  offerings  to  the  temples,  let  him  send  in  incense 
before  the  god,  let  him  cause  the  princes  to  *^recover^  their  possessions, 
let  him  cause  the  poor  to  ^re-enter^  their  cities.^^ 

Heliopolis  Praises  Merneptah 

614.  They  say  among  the  lords  of  Heliopolis  ^^regarding  their  son, 

Merneptah:  “Give  to  him  duration  like  Re,  let  him  be  advocate  of  him 
who  is  oppressed  in  every  country.  Egypt  has  been  assigned  to  him  as 
the  portion  of  iliim  who  has  gained  it^  for  himself  forever.  His  strength 
is  its  people.  Lo,  when  one  dwells  in  the  time  of  this  hero,  the  breath 
*®of  life®  comes  immediately . so  they  say. 

The  Gods  Delivered  Meryey  to  Merneptah 

615.  Meryey  {M-w-r^  -wy-y),  ^’the  wretched,  vanquished  chief  of 
Libya,  came  to  invade  the  “  Walls-of-the-Sovereign”  (Memphis),  i^who  is 
its  lord,^  whose  son  shines  on  his  throne,  the  King  Merneptah.  Ptah'^ 
said  concerning  the  vanquished  (chief) ^  of  Libya:  “All  his  crimes 
shall  be  gathered  *°and  returned  upon  his  (own)  head.  Deliver  him 
into  the  hand  of  Merneptah,  that  he  may  make  him  disgorge  what  he 
has  swallowed,  like  a  crocodile.  Behold,  the  swift  is  the  captor  of  the 
swift;  and  the  king  shall  snare  him,  (though)  his  strength  be  known; 
for  Amon  shall  bind  him  in  his  hand  and  shall  deliver  him  to  his  ka 
®*in  Hermonthis,  (to  him)  the  King  Merneptah.*’ 


»It  is  regularly  the  king  who  furnishes  his  p>eople  with  the  breath  of  life;  cf. 
also  1.  4. 

*>The  Karnak  fragment  has  **AmonP 

cKarnak  fragment  has:  concerning  him  of  Libya  (p-n-Rbw).** 


} 6i7]  LIBYAN ■  MEDITERRANEAN  INVASION  263 


Rejoicing  of  the  Egyptians 

616.  Great  joy  has  come  in  Egypt,  rejoicing  comes  forth  from  the 
towns  of  Tomeri.®  They  converse  of  the  victories  which  Merneptah 
has  achieved  among  the  Tehenu:  ‘‘How  amiable  **is  he,  the  victorious 
ruler!  How  magnified  is  the  king  among  the  gods!  How  fortunate  is 
he,  the  commanding  lord !  Sit  happily  down  and  talk,  or  walk  far  out 
upon  the  way,  (for)  there  is  no  fear  in  the  heart  of  the  people.  ®3The 
strongholds  are  left  to  themselves,  the  wells  are  opened  (again).  The 
messengers  •‘skirt^  the  battlements  of  the  walls,  shaded^  from  the  sun, 
until  their  watchmen  wake.®  The  soldiers  lie  sleeping,  and  the  border 
“^scouts  are  in  the  field  at  their  (own)*^  desire.  The  herds  of  the  field 
are  left  as  cattle  sent  forth,  without  herdmen,  crossing  (at  will)  the 
fulness  of  the  stream.  There  is  no  uplifting  of  a  shout  in  the  night: 
‘Stop!  Behold,  one  comes,  one  comes  with  the  speech  of  strangers!’® 
One  comes  *5and  goes  with  singing,  and  there  is  no  lamentation  of 
mourning  people.  The  towns  are  settled  again  anew;  as  for  the  one 
that  ploweth  his  harvest,  he  shall  eat  it.  Re  has  turned  himself  to 
Egypt;  he  was  born,  destined  to  be  *%er  protector,  the  King  Merne¬ 
ptah  ” 

Concluding  Strophe 

617.  “The  kings  are  overthrown,  saying:  “Sal4m!”^ 

Not  one  holds  up  his  head  among  the  Nine  Bows. 

Wasted  is  Tehenu, 

Kheta«  is  pacified, 

Plundered  is  Pekanan*  {P^  -» sic!),  with  every  evil, 

“’Carried  off  is  Askalon  (^ -5-J  ^ -r-»y). 

Seized  upon  is  Gezer  (jfC  ^  -d  ^  -r  ^), 


» Another  name  for  Egypt. 

'^Lit.,  **cool  from  the  sunJ** 

cThe  watchmen  who  should  receive  the  messenger’s  news  are  asleep,  and  the 
messenger  walks  in  the  shade  of  the  wall  till  they  wake,  as  his  message  is  not  in 
haste  as  in  time  of  war. 

^That  is,  whether  they  h’ke  or  not;  they  may  patrol  or  not  as  they  wish. 

«Meaning  the  cry  of  the  sentinels  that  men  of  foreign  speech  (viz.,  Libyans) 
are  coming. 

^The  Libyans  are  represented  as  also  using  this  Semitic  word  in  Ramses  Ill’s 
war  with  them  (fifth  year,  IV,  43,  1.  50,  and  IV,  45,  1.  56). 

sSee  Great  Karnak  Inscription  (§  580,  1.  24). 

J»Lit.,  **the  Canaan.'" 


264 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§6i8 


Yenoam  -mw)  is  made  as  a  thing  not  existing. 

Israel  (’  -s-r-  ’  -r)  is  desolated,  his  seed  is  not; 

Palestine  ’  -no)  has  become  a  widow*  *®for  Eg)rpt. 

All  lands  are  united,  they  are  pacified; 

Everyone  that  is  turbulent  is  bound  by  King  Merneptah,  given  life 
like  Re,  every  day. 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF  THE  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  AMON,  ROY 

618.  The  documents  left  by  Roy  are  of  the  greatest  im¬ 
portance  as  showing  when  the  office  of  High  Priest  of  Amon 
was  for  the  first  time  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  and 
thus  came  to  be  regarded  as  hereditary.  Moreover,  an 
examination  of  them  discloses  the  fact  that  this  arrogation  of 
power  by  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  took  place  under  Meme- 
ptah,  not  at  the  close  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  as  com¬ 
monly  supposed,  but  at  the  latest  in  the  reign  of  Merneptah, 
and  possibly  still  earlier,  in  the  reign  of  Ramses  II.  Roy 
lived  in  the  reign  of  Merneptah  (§§628®.),  and  inherited 
the  high  priesthood  of  Amon  from  his  father,  Rome,  hereto¬ 
fore  considered  his  son.  Roy’s  father,  Rome,  therefore  lived 
under  Ramses  II,  and  must  have  been  the  successor  of  Bek- 
nekhonsu®  (§§  561-68).  Roy’s  son  was  named  Bekne- 


•The  meaning  of  this  phrase  is  rendered  evident  by  an  epithet  applied  to 
Ramses  II  on  his  Tanis  stela  (§490»  1-  9)»  viz.,  husband  of  Egypt,**  meaning, 
of  course,  “  protector  of  Egypt**  Hence  a  land  may  be  widowed  («  without  a 
—without  a  protector),  and  Palestine  had  no  protector  against  Egypt. 

'^Since  the  above  was  written  Wreszcinski^s  very  useful  list  of  the  high  priests 
of  Amon  has  appeared  (Die  Hohenpriester  des  Amon,  von  W.  Wreszcinski,  Berlin, 
1904),  in  which  he  also  makes  Rome  the  elder,  and  probably  the  father  of  Roy 
(ibid.,  14,  note). 

^Beginning  sixty  years  from  some  point  in  the  reign  of  Seti  I,  Beknekhonsu 
was  High  Priest  of  Amon  for  twenty-seven  years.  This  brings  the  close  of  his  term 
to  at  least  the  sixtieth  year  of  Ramses  II^s  reign,  so  that  Rome  must  have  succeeded 
him.  It  can  hardly  be  an  accident  that  one  of  the  prophets  of  Amon  in  Ramses 
II*s  forty-sixth  year,  under  the  high  priesthood  of  Beknekhonsu,  was  named 
Rome  (Berlin  legal  papyrus  No.  3047;  ZeUschrift  fUr  dgyptische  Sprache,  1879, 

1.  s)- 


56i8]  INSCRIPTIONS  OF  HIGH  PRIEST  ROY  265 


khonsu hence,  as  the  name  thus  appears  in  Roy’s  family, 
he  (Roy)  may  have  been  the  grandson  of  the  Beknekhonsu 
of  Ramses  II’s  reign,  in  which  case  the  hereditary  character 
of  the  office  began  with  Beknekhonsu.  Roy  survived  into 
the  reign  of  Seti  II;  but  already  under  Memeptah  he  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  gaining  high  office  for  his  son,  with  prospects  of 
succeeding  to  the  high  priesthood.  According  to  Legrain, 
his  statue  recently  found  in  the  great  Kamak  cache  bears 
the  following  statement: 

“Le  roi  a  donn6  que  mes  enfants  soient  rassembl^s  en 
corporation  (tribu)  de  mon  sang,  les  4tablissant  parmi  les 
prophfetes  qui  sont  sous  sa  direction.  Moi,  je  suis  premier 
proph^te  d’Amon,  ct  mon  fils  est  6tabli  k  c6t6  de  moi  en 
quality  de  second  prophete  et  de  sous-directeur  du  palais  du 
roi  k  I’occident  de  Thkbes;  le  fils  de  mon  fils  recevra  les 
titres  de  quatrikme  prophkte  d’Amon,  de  pkre  divin,  d’offi- 
cient  et  de  prfitre.’”’ 

Legrain  has  accepted  the  current  conclusion  that  Roy 
was  the  father  of  Rome,  and  hence  identifies  Roy’s  son 
above,  who  became  second  prophet,  with  Rome.  The  nar¬ 
rative  of  Roy,  however,  does  not  give  the  name  of  his  son; 
but  it  is  given  in  the  Karnak  relief  (§  620)  as  Beknekhonsu, 
who  must  therefore  be  the  son  referred  to  on  this  new  Klamak 
statue.  “ 


^Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  1321. 

^Recueil,  27,  72.  Legrain  gives  no  text. 

cAs  now  published  {Recueil,  27),  Legrain’s  data  furnish  no  evidence  that  Roy 
was  the  father,  and  Rome  his  son.  The  fact  that  he  is  able  to  reconstruct  from 
Twenty-second  Dynasty  statues  a  genealogy  reaching  back  to  a  second  prophet, 
Rome,  has  no  bearing.  We  know  that  our  Rome  is  called  High  Priest  of  Amon 
on  contemporary  monuments;  hence  the  second  prophet,  Rome,  who  heads 
Legrain’s  genealogy  {RecueU,  27,  73),  was  evidently  a  different  person.  The 
monuments  found  by  Legrain,  when  published  in  extenso,  may  contain  evidence 
that  Rome  was  the  son  and  Roy  the  father;  for  I  admit  that  some  difficulties 
attend  the  supposition  that  the  reverse  was  true;  but  the  evidence  now  accessible 
is  certainly  strongly  in  favor  of  this  conclusion. 


266 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


n  619 


I.  KARNAK  INSCRIPTION* 

619.  This  document  is  of  importance,  first,  because  of  its 
place,  viz.,  on  the  walls  of  the  Kamak  temple  of  Amon, 
where  heretofore  none  but  the  Pharaoh’s  name  might  appear. 
At  the  east  end  of  Pylon  VTII,  built  by  Thutmose  I,  was  the 
kitchen’’  or  refectory  of  the  high  priests  of  Amon.  In  view 
of  the  extensive  household  of  the  high  priests  at  this  time, 
it  must  have  been  a  considerable  building.  In  Roy’s  time 
it  had  fallen  into  ruin;  and  in  the  reign  of  Memeptah 
(§625)  Roy  rebuilt  and  enlarged  it.  On  the  east  end  of 
Pylon  VIII,  near  the  entrance  to  the  building,  where  all 
who  went  in  would  see  it,  he  left  a  record  of  his  pious  work, 
calling  upon  all  the  bakers,  confectioners,  and  the  like,  who 
daily  entered  there,  to  remember  him  for  it  and  to  pray  to 
Amon  for  him.  To  this  record  he  prefixed  a  hymn  of  praise 
to  Amon,  which  he  placed  in  the  mouth  of  his  deceased 
father,  Rome.  Rome  recounts  his  own  long  life  accorded 
him  by  Amon,  and  adds:  “My  son  is  in  my  place,  my 
office  is  in  his  hand,  in  hereditary  succession,  forever”  (1.  6). 
Rome  is  thus  represented  as  regarding  the  hereditary  char¬ 
acter  of  the  office  of  High  Priest  as  a  matter  of  course;  which 
would  indicate  that  the  beginning  of  the  hereditary  suc¬ 
cession  was  earlier,  as  indicated  above  (§618).  The  use  of 
the  temple  wall,  and  the  restoration  of  one  of  its  connected 
buildings  by  the  High  Priest  of  Amon,  are  significant  symp¬ 
toms  of  the  tendency  which  two  hundred  years  later  placed 
the  High  Priest  on  the  throne  of  Egypt. 


^On  the  east  end  of  Pylon  VIII,  overlooking  the  sacred  lake;  published: 
Lcpsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  237,  c;  Stern,  Zeitschrift  fiir  dgyptische  Sprache^  XI, 
74  ff.  (partially);  and  Brugsch,  Thesaurus^  VI,  1321,  1322  (partially).  I  had  a 
photograph  (for  which  I  am  indebted  to  Borchardt)  which  filled  out  many  of  the 
lacunae  in  Lepsius,  Denkmdler^  and  made  possible  the  study  of  the  document  as  a 
whole,  which,  as  it  has  not  been  done  since  Stern  (1873),  furnishes  new  and  impor¬ 
tant  facts. 

hThe  dwelling  of  the  High  Priest  was  farther  east,  south  of  the  lake. 


§622] 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF  HIGH  PRIEST  ROY 


267 


620.  Beside  the  inscription,  in  relief,  are  two  priests  in 
the  attitude  of  prayer;  the  first  must  be  Roy,  though  no 
name  is  appended ;  for  the  second  figure  is  not  Roy  (as  shown 
by  the  accompanying  inscription).  The  second  figure  is 
accompanied  by  the  words *^His  son,  the  second  prophet 
of  Amon,  Beknekhonsu."  This  second  figure  and  the 
name  have  been  chiseled  out  by  political  enemies,  probably 
at  the  fall  of  Seti  II,  into  whose  reign  Roy  survived. 

The  inscription  is  as  follows: 

Praise  by  Rome 

621.  Giving  praise  to  Amon-Re,  smelling  the  earth  to  his  beautiful 

face,  by  the  High  Priest  of  Amon,  Rome  {R^  -m).  He  says: . 

Here  follows  conventional  praise  of  the  god,  with  a  prayer 
for  the  king,^  after  which  Rome  proceeds: 

Speech  0}  Rome 

622.  “  ^Thou  didst  grant®  me  long  life  carrying  thy  image,  while  my 

eye  beheld  thy  two  uraei  every  day,  and  my  limbs  were  endued  with 
health . 5 . Thou  didst  prolong  my  existence  during  a  pleas- 


»Bnigsch,  Thesaurus^  1321 ;  I  cannot  see  any  traces  of  the  name  on  the  photo¬ 
graph,  but  the  title  is  legible  as  above. 

^Lepsius,  Denkmdlerf  gives  the  name  as  that  of  Seti  II,  like  the  two  scenes  on 
the  left;  but  I  cannot  read  this  name  on  the  photograph.  It  was  not  read  by 
either  Stern  or  Brugsch.  If  Lepsius  has  not  introduced  it  from  the  neighboring 
adoration  of  Amon  by  Seti  II,  and  it  actually  stands  in  our  passage,  it  must  be  a 
prayer  for  the  king  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  deceased  Rome;  just  as  the  deceased 
Seti  I  is  made  to  pray  for  Ramses  II  at  Abydos.  Our  inscription  in  that  case  dates 
from  the  reign  of  Seti  II.  The  matter  can  be  settled  only  by  an  examination  of 
the  original;  but  historically  the  reasons  against  reading  Seti  II  are  strong,  for 
Roy  would  then  have  been  High  Priest  through  the  reigns  of  successive  kings  hostile 
to  each  other,  Merneptah,  Amenmeses,  Siptah,  and  Seti  II,  in  whose  quarrels  the 
High  Priest  of  Amon  was,  of  course,  involved.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  same  High 
Priest  continued  under  them  all. 

cThe  tense  of  the  original  permits  translating  all  the  following  as  a  prayer 
until  1.  6,  where  the  nominal  sentence,  **my  son  m,  etc.^*  cannot  be  optative.  Hence 
the  whole  is  historical,  and  not  a  prayer.  Again,  as  both  Rome  and  Roy  are  given 
the  title  High  Priest  of  Amon,  one  of  them  must  be  dead;  and  the  deceased  is  of 
course  he  whose  son  has  succeeded  him.  Hence  we  must  conclude  that  Rome 
is  the  father,  and  not  the  son  (otherwise  Maspero,  Monties  royales,  666). 


268  NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH  [§623 

ant  life,  abiding  in  thy  temple,  whHe  my  limbs  were  fsound^,  following 
thy  ka,  while  my  eye  beheld  the  way,  until  I  arrived  at  the  West®^  of 
Thebes,  satisfied  with  seeing  Amon.  ^My  son  is  in  my  place,  my  office 
is  in  his  hand,  ^in  hereditary  succession'^  forever,  as  is  done  for  a  just 
man,  profitable  in  the  house  of  his  lord.” 

Introduction  of  Roy^s  Speech 

623.  For*^  the  ka  of  the  only  excellent  and  just  one,  the  favored  of 
his  god,  Amon,  profitable  to  Mut,  and  amiable  to  Khonsu,  pleasing  the 
heart  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands;  ^hereditary  prince,  divine  father, 
pure  of  hands,  master  of  secrets  of  heaven,  earth,  and  the  nether  world, 
r — 1  of  Kamephis  (Amon),  sem  priest  in  the  eternal  horizon,*'  great 
seer  of  Re-Atum  in  Thebes,  third  prophet  of  Amon,  second  prophet  of 
Amon,  High  Priest®  of  Amon,  Roy,  triumphant.  He  saith: 

Roys  Speech 

624.  8**0  ye  priests  and  scribes  of  the  house  of  Amon,  good  servants 
of  the  divine  offerings,^  bakers,  mixers, confectioners,  makers  of  cakes, 
and  loaves,''  those  who  perform  their  every  duty  for  their  lord;  who 

shall  enter  into  this  refectory,'  which  is  in  f  the  house  of  Amoni].  0 - 

daily;  '’prayl  for  me  because  of  my  good  and  great  deeds.” 

Roys  Restoration 

625.  “  I  found  this  house  * /)  in  complete  ruin;  its  walls  falling,  the 
woodwork  wretched,  the  doorposts  of  wood  perishing,  the  paint  ^faded^. 


•The  cemetery;  meaning  till  he  died. 

^Lit.,  son  of  another  forever^'  (w  «  j  ’  w  c),  which  is  a  phrase  for  hereditary 
succession.  Only  the  second  w  «  is  here  clearly  preserved,  but  on  the  photograph 
I  can  see  the  feet  of  the  s  ^  -goose  and  one  end  of  the  first  w  c  -harpoon.  In  view 
of  the  occurrence  of  the  same  phrase  in  1.  12,  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the 
reading  here.  The  hereditary  character  of  the  high  priesthood  of  Amon  is  thus 
proven. 

cit  is  possible  that  this  still  belongs  to  Rome’s  speech,  which  does  not  alter 
the  conclusions  drawn  from  the  inscription;  for  the  ka^  etc.**  being  then  a  second 
dative  after  ^*done.** 

^The  king’s  tomb.  ®Lit.,  ** first  prophet'* 

fTemple  income;  servants  who  handle  the  naturalia  of  the  temple  income  are 
meant. 

80r:  ^^kneaders'^  if^th). 

hThree  sorts  of  loaves  are  given:  sn't,  by't,  and  prsn, 

'Or:  **kitchen''  (w^h't). 


§6271  INSCRIPTIONS  OF  HIGH  PRIEST  ROY  269 

I  piaid  it  out^  *®with  increase  throu^out,  heightened  and  widened  and 
^established^.  I  made  its  doorposts  of  sandstone,  I  mounted  upon  them 
doors  of  real  cedar;  a  [plajce  for  the  bakers  and  mixers  who  are  in  it. 
I  made  it  a  better  work  than  before,  for  the  protection  pof  the  servants^ 
**of  Amon,  lord  of  gods.’^ 

Roy^s  Admonition 

626.  “Give  ye  heed  and  hear  ye  what  I  say!  Trespass  not  against 
any  thing  which  I  have  made;  prosper  my  name,  —  my  virtues  (j^), 
speak  favorably  for  me  in  the  presence  of  Amon;  then  shall  he  favor 

you,  —  according  as  he  does - Pye  shall  attain^]  “old  age  in  his 

house,  his  food  shall  be  yours,  ye  shall  bequeath  (your  offices)  to  your 
children  ^in  hereditary  succession*  in  his  house  forever.  Place  offerings 
*3before  my  statue,^  pour  out  libations  upon  the  ground  for  my  name, 
set  flowers  before  me  when  ye  enter,  * -♦bespeak  for  me  his  favor  with  a 
loving  heart  for  my  god,  Amon,  lord  of  gods.  Then  shall  be  given  to 

you  *  Mother  things  which - .  Cause  [this  writing]  to  be  read,  in 

order  to  do  according  to  my  sapngs  *%hich  are  before  you.  Put  my 
good  reputation  in  the  mouth  of  the  youth,  according  as  I  have  done 

excellent  things  in  the  House  of  Amon  *^on  every  occasion, - Amon, 

because  of  these  my  — .  May  he  grant  me  no  years  bearing  ^®[his] 

image - forever.  I  said  *^n  my  heart - his  ka.”  For 

the  ka  of  the  High  Priest  of  Amon,  Roy.^ 

n.  SILSILEH  STELA^ 

627.  The  building  which  Roy  erected  at  Karnak  was  par¬ 
tially  of  sandstone,  and  as  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  was 
regularly  chief  architect  of  the  buildings  at  Karnak,  it  is 


c  s*  as  restored  in  1.  6  above,  q.  v, 

^His  statue  must  have  been  in  the  temple  near  this  place. 
cA  relief  (Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  237,  c)  beside  this  long  inscription  shows 
Rome  and  Roy  kneeling  with  upraised  hands  before  two  royal  cartouches,  the  names 
in  which  are  chiseled  out.  Lepsius’  notebook  offers  no  help  as  to  their  reading. 
The  two  men  have  each  the  title  **High  Priest  of  Amon:*  There  is  no  sign  of  the 
relationship  between  them,  and  lx)th  are  {:* triumphant**)!^  Below  are 

the  words:  ^'The  assistant  whom  his  majesty  taught,  the  High  Priest  of  Amon, 
Rome,  made  (it)/*  If  made  in  the  lifetime  of  Rome,  the  expunged  names  will  be 
those  of  Merneptah.  Over  this  scene  is  one  showing  Seti  II  worshiping  Amon; 
it  has  no  necessary  connection  with  that  of  Rome  and  Roy. 

<lChampollion,  Monuments,  102  “  Lepsius,  DenkmiUer,  III,  200,  a. 


270 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MERNEPTAH 


[§628 


probable  that  Roy  went  to  Silsileh  himself  to  superintend 
the  quarrying  of  the  sandstone  for  his  building  at  Kamak. 
Our  inscription  does  not  state  the  object  of  his  visit,  but 
nothing  else  is  known  to  us  which  would  bring  the  High 
Priest  of  Amon  to  Silsileh.  This  dates  Roy’s  building  in 
Memeptah’s  reign. 

628.  The  stela  shows  King  Memeptah  and  Roy  worship¬ 
ing  before  Amon.  Below  are  the  name  and  titles  of  Roy 
as  in  above  Kamak  inscription  (§  625, 11.  6,  7).  Down  each 
side  is  a  prayer,  one  for  Roy,  and  the  other  for  Rome,  with 
no  statement  of  the  relationship  between  them.  Both  bear 
the  title,  “High  Priest  of  Amon''  which  they  could  not  have 
borne  simultaneously.  One  is,  therefore,  already  deceased 
in  Merneptah’s  reign,  and  as  Roy  appears  assisting  the 
king  in  the  relief,  it  is  Rome  who  is  the  deceased  father. 
Hence  the  old  supposition  that  Rome  was  the  son  and  still 
lived  under  Seti  II  is  incorrect,  as  we  found  was  indicated 
also  by  the  Kamak  inscription.  Rome,  therefore,  if  de¬ 
ceased  in  Memeptah’s  short  reign,  must  have  been  High 
Priest  of  Amon  during  the  latter  part  of  Ramses  II’s  reign, 
and  possibly  survived  into  the  reign  of  Memeptah.* 


DAYBOOK  OF  A  FRONTIER  OFFICIAL^ 

629.  On  the  blank  backs  of  a  few  pages  of  a  school  copy¬ 
book  an  official  in  some  town*’  on  the  Palestinian  frontier, 
in  the  days  of  Memeptah,  has  noted  for  temporary  reference 

“The  other  inscriptions  mentioning  Roy  are  of  no  historical  importance:  a 
carnelian  buckle  with  his  name  and  titles  is  in  Paris  {Bibliothique  NcUionaley  No. 
1468,  bis)j  and  a  mortuary  stela  of  one  of  his  subordinates  is  in  Leyden  (V,  8). 
I  owe  the  first  reference  to  Dr.  Wreszcinski. 

'^Papyrus  Anastasi  III,  British  Museum,  10246,  Pis.  VI  and  V,  verso,  of  the 
Select  Papyri y  I  had  also  a  collation  of  the  original  for  the  Berlin  Dictionary 
by  Steindorff.  See  Erman,  Zeitschrift  jilr  dgyptische  Sprache,  29,  32,  and  Life  in 
Ancient  Egypt y  538  f. 

cErman  thinks  he  was  in  the  well-known  frontier  town  of  Tharu. 


§632]  DAYBOOK  OF  A  FRONTIER  OFFICIAL 


the  names  and  the  business  of  the  messengers  who  passed 
through  the  place  on  their  way  to  Syria.  In  addition  to  the 
important  and  interesting  glimpse  of  the  active  intercourse 
between  Eg)rpt  and  Syria  in  the  thirteenth  century  B.  C., 
which  the  document  affords  us,  it  is  of  importance  also  as 
showing  that  Memeptah  in  his  third  year  was  in  Syria, 
undoubtedly  on  the  campaign  during  which  he  plundered 
Israel,  as  related  in  his  Hymn  of  Victory  of  the  year  5  (§  617). 

The  notes  are  of  the  most  hurried  character,  and  so 
abbreviated  that  the  prepositions  are  omitted. 

Fifteenth  Day 

630.  VI* Year  3,  first  month  of  the  third  season  (ninth  month), 
fifteenth  day: 

There  went  up  the  servant  of  Baal,  Roy  {R  ^  -y),  son  of  Zeper  (I>  ^  - 
pw-r  of  Gaza  (G^-d^  -y,  sic  1),  *who  had  with  him  for  Syria  ^  -rw) 
two  different  letters,  to  wit:  (for)  the  captain  of  infantry,  Khay  (jg?  ^  y), 
one  letter;  ^(for)  the  chief  of  Tyre,  Baalat-Remeg  44w-R^  - 
m^g-w),  one  letter. 

Seventeenth  Day 

631.  Year  3,  first  month  of  the  third  season  (ninth  month),  seven¬ 
teenth  day: 

^There  arrived  the  captains  of  the  archers  of  the  Well  of  Merneptah- 
Hotephirma,  L.  P.  H.,  swhich  is  (on)  the  highland,  to  ^report^  in  the 
fortress  which  is  in  Tharu  (T^-rw), 

Uncertain  Day 

632.  ^Year  3,  first  month  of  the  third  season  (ninth  month),  ^th® 
day: 

There  returned  the  attendant,  Thutiy,  son  of  Thekerem  -k^  - 
rw-m)  of  Geket  (G^  -k^  -ty) ;  ^  ^Methdet  {M-t  ^  -dw4y-w),  son  of 
Shem-Baal  (S  ^  -m-  B-  ^  -r  ^)  (of)  the  same  (town) ;  ^Sutekhmose,  son 
of  Eperdegel  -pr-d-g^  -r^)  (of)  the  same  (town),  <>who  had  with  him, 


«The  original  looks  like  12! 

'^Perhaps  an  error  for  G  ®  =Gaza. 


373 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  MEENEPTAH 


[I633 


for  the  place  where  the  king  was,  (for)  the  captain  of  infantry,  Khay 
“gifts*  (yn'tw,  sic!)  and  a  letter. 

633-  V*There  went  up  the  attendant,  Nakhtamon,  son  of  Thara 
of  the  Stronghold  of  Merneptah-Hotephirma,  L.  P.  H.,  *who 
journeyed  (to)  ^Upper^  Tyre  {D^  -Rw-m)^  who  had  with  him  for 

Syria  ^  -rw),  two  different  letters,  to  wit:  3(for)  the  captain  of  infantry, 
Penamon,  one  letter;  (for)  the  steward,  Ramsesnakht,  of  this  town, 
one  letter. 

634.  -♦There  returned  the  chief  of  the  stable,  Pemerkhetem  (P  ^  - 
mr-fylm),  son  of  Ani,  of  the  Town  of  Merneptah-Hotephirma,  swhich 
is  in  the  district  of  the  Aram  Q  -m),®  who  had  with  him  (for)*^  the 
place  where  the  king  was,*^  two  letters,  to  wk:  ^(for)  the  captain  of 
infantry,  Peremhab  (P  ^ -P  ^ -m-|t6),  one  letter;  ^for  the  deputy, 
Peremhab,  one  letter. 

Twenty-fifth  Day 

635.  *Year  3,  first  month  of  the  third  season  (ninth  month),  twenty- 
fifth  day: 

There  went  up  the  charioteer,  Enwau  {Ynw-w^  ww)y  of  the  great 
stable  of  the  court  of  Binre-Meriamon,  (Merneptah),  L.  P.  H.® 


LETTER  OF  A  FRONTIER  OFFICIAL^ 

636.  This  remarkable  document  is  a  communication  in 
the  usual  official  style,  in  which  some  frontier  official  informs 
his  superior  that  certain  Edomite  Bedwin,  doubtless  in  ac- 


»As  this  Khay  has  already  gone  up  to  Syria  (according  to  VI,  2,  §  630),  and  his 
address  is  now  the  king’s  camp,  the  king  must  be  somewhere  in  Syria. 

'^Muller  inclines  to  place  this  town  on  the  Jordan  {Asien  und  Europa^  272); 
but  he  reads  ?)w-m. 

cAs  the  article  shows,  the  scribe  has  miswritten  Aram  for  Amor.  Cf.  Muller, 
Asien  und  Europay  222,  and  234. 

<iMuller,  {Asien  und  Europa  270  f.)  would  regard  this  as  the  place  from  which 
the  letter  came,  and  not  the  address.  That  this  is  impossible  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  source  of  the  letters  is  never  given  in  the  entire  list;  and,  further,  by  the 
parallel  in  VI,  9,  which  is  of  itself  quite  enough  to  show  that  the  king  was  in  Asia ; 
but  he  was  not  necessarily  in  his  royal  town  in  Amor,  which  is  only  mentioned  as 
the  home  of  the  officer  bearing  the  letter. 

•Here  follows  a  list  of  fifteen  names  of  unofficial  persons,  whose  connection 
with  the  preceding  is  not  indicated. 

^Papyrus  Anastasi  VI  in  the  British  Museum;  PI.  IV,  1.  13-PI.  V,  1.  4.  Cf. 
Miiller,  Asien  und  Europa^  135. 


5638] 


LETTER  OF  A  FRONTIER  OFFICIAL 


273 


cordance  with  instructions,  have  been  allowed  to  pass  the 
fortress  in  the  district  of  Succoth  in  the  Wadi  TumMt,  to 
pasture  their  cattle  near  Pithom.  The  instance  is  paralleled 
by  the  similar  case  under  Harmhab  (§§  10-12),  and  that  of 
the  Israelites  (Gen.  47:1-12). 

637.  The  papyrus  is  very  fragmentary,  and  some  of  the 
uncertain  portions  are  omitted  below. 

PI.  4 

638.  '^Another  matter  for  the  satisfaction  of  my  lord's  heart  *^to 
wit]; 

We  have  finished  passing  the  tribes  of  the  Shasu  {S  ^  -sw)  of  'sEdom 
through  the  Fortress  of  Merneptah-Hotephirma,  L.  P.  H.,  in  Theku,® 
(T-kw)  '*to  the  pools  of  Pithom,  of  Merneptah-Hotephirma  ‘in 

PI.  5 

Theku,  in  order  to  sustain^*  them  and  their  herds  in  the  domain  of  Pha¬ 
raoh,  L.  P.  H.,  the  good  Sun  *of  every  land . . I  have 

caused  them  to  be  brought  * . other  names  of  ♦days  •when*  the 

fortress  of  Merneptah-Hotephirma  may  be  passed,  * - . 


♦Succoth  ? 

^’Causative  of  the  verb  “to  live”  (as  in  Hebrew),  regularly  used  to  indicate 
preservation  and  sustenance  in  time  of  famine. 


REIGN  OF  SIPTAH 
NUBIAN  GRAFFITI 

639.  The  only  inscriptions  of  important  historical  content 
from  the  reign  of  Siptah  are  the  graffiti  of  his  viceroys  in 
Nubia,  especially  those  at  Wadi  Haifa.®  They  show  that 
he  was  at  first  called  Ramses-Siptah,  and  later  Memeptah- 
Siptah.  He  went  out  to  Nubia  apparently  in  his  first  year, 
as  far  as  Abu  Simbel,  to  appoint  Seti  his  new  viceroy  of  Kush 
(No.  i),  and  Neferhor  the  official  who  brought  the  new  vice¬ 
roy  out  to  his  post,  recorded  his  arrival  at  Wadi  Haifa 
(No.  2).  The  “reward”  brought  by  Neferhor  on  this  oc¬ 
casion  for  the  officials  of  Nubia  can  be  nothing  else  than  the 
new  king’s  attempt  to  win  and  hold  them  to  his  support. 
He  evidently  succeeded,  for  in  the  year  3  the  treasury  official, 
Piyay,  records  his  visit  at  Wadi  Haifa  to  receive  the  tribute 
of  Kush  (No.  3). 

640.  In  the  same  year  Seti  is  still  viceroy,  recording  his 
devotion  to  the  king  on  the  rocks  at  the  first  cataract  (Nos. 
5  and  6).  He  is  now  also  **  governor  of  the  gold-country  of 
Amon^*  and  chief  steward  of  the  king.'*  Siptah  ruled  at 
least  three  years  longer,  for  one  of  his  messengers  visited 
Wadi  Haifa  in  the  year  6  (No.  8).  Another  of  his  supporters 
to  whom  much  interest  attaches  in  these  graffiti  is  his  treas¬ 
urer,  Bay.  This  man  was  chief  treasurer,  and  a  man  of 
some  power,  or  he  could  not  have  excavated  a  tomb  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Kings;  but  a  mistranslation  of  Brugsch  has 


‘On  pillars  of  the  southern  temple  of  Thutmose  III;  they  are  published  by 
Sayce,  Recueil,  XVII,  i6i,  162,  and  are  referred  to  under  his  numbers.  For 
most  of  them  I  had  also  the  copies  of  Steindorff,  which  he  very  kindly  .placed  at 
my  disposal. 


274 


5641] 


NUBIAN  GRAFFITI 


275 


given  currency  to  a  totally  false  idea  of  Bay’s  position. 
In  both  the  grafl&ti  (Nos.  6  and  7)  commemorating  Bay,  there 
is  attached  to  his  name  a  relative  clause:  *‘whom  the  king 
established  in  the  seat  of  his  father,'’  a  not  uncommon  state¬ 
ment,  indicating  that  a  man  has  inherited  his  father’s  office. 
Brugsch’s  rendering,  following de Rouge, “  “in  dem  er  (Seti) 
den  Konig  auf  den  Thron  seines  Vaters  setzte,”  is  gram¬ 
matically  untenable  hence  the  prevailing  interpretation 
in  all  the  histories  since  de  Rough’s  time,  that  the  king 
owed  his  throne  to  Bay,  is  without  foundation.  On  the 
contrary,  the  old  hypothesis  of  Roug6,‘’  that  the  powerful 
noble  of  this  reign  was  the  viceroy  of  Kush,  Seti,  who 
became  King  Seti  II,  succeeding  Siptah,  is  supported  by 
these  graffiti.  Seti  becomes  governor  of  the  gold-country  of 
Amon,”  which  places  him  in  close  communication  with  the 
powerful  priesthood  of  Amon,^  from  whom  so  many  usurpers 
drew  their  strength. 

641.  The  succession  of  the  kings  of  the  time,  supposed  to 
be  against  Rough’s  supposition,  is  clearly  in  support  of  it; 
but  the  evidence  either  has  been  overlooked  or  has  only 
recently  been  published.  There  is  space  here  to  note  only 
some  of  the  main  points  in  the  evidence.  Amenmeses,  the 
successor  of  Memeptah,  was  a  usurper  and  persecuted  the 
memory  of  Memeptah,  for  example  at  the  Ramesseum, 
where  he  set  his  own  name  over  that  of  Memeptah.*  Amen¬ 
meses  was  in  turn  treated  in  the  same  way  by  his  successor, 
Siptah,  who  inserted  his  own  name  over  that  of  Amenmeses 


*  Etude  sur  une  sthle  egyptienne,  186. 

^See  note  on  No.  7,  §  649. 

<^Ibid.f  187. 

<llndeed,  there  is  a  definite  connection  between  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  and 
Nubia,  for  he  became  viceroy  of  Nubia  as  his  power  increased  {^Annates,  IV,  9). 
«Lepsius,  DenkmaleVt  III,  219,  c,  A;  ibid.^  Text,  III,  130. 


276 _ NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SIPTAH _ [§642 

in  a  relief®  at  Kuma,  showing  Amenmeses  worshiping  the 
Theban  divinities,  who  are  associated  with  Ramses  II  and 
Seti  I,  from  whom  Amenmeses  was  probably  descended. 
The  succession  of  Amenmeses-Siptah  is  therefore  certain. 
On  examining  the  position  of  Seti  II  with  reference  to  the 
said  two  kings,  the  evidence  of  his  first  tomb  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Kings  is  conclusive.  Lepsius’  careful  and  exhaustive 
examination^  of  the  royal  names  in  the  tomb  of  Siptah’s 
queen,  Tewosret,  shows  conclusively  that  Seti  II  usurped 
this  tomb.  He  therefore  followed  Siptah,  and  may  very 
well  have  been  that  king’s  powerful  viceroy  of  Nubia,  Seti, 
whom  we  find  commemorated  in  the  following  graffiti.  In 
Ramses  Ill’s  time  he  was  looked  upon  as  the  only  legitimate 
king  between  Merneptah  and  Setnakht.^ 

642.  ^i.  Praise  to  Amon!  May  he  grant  life,  prosperity  and 
health  to  the  ka  of  the  king’s-messenger  to  every  country,  companion 
of  the  feet  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  favorite  of  Horus  in  the  palace 
(the  king),  first  charioteer  of  his  majesty,  Rekhpehtuf  (Rf^-phtw’ }). 
His  lord  came  to  establish  the  king’s-son  of  Kush,  Seti,  upon  his  seat, 
in  the  year  i  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Ramses-Siptah, 


^Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  201,  c;  Text,  III,  91,  92;  so  Roug€,  op.  cit.^  185. 
The  Honis-name  of  Amenmeses  in  the  body  of  the  text  below  (1.  i),  was  overlooked 
and  not  changed  by  Siptah,  thus  betraying  the  identity  of  the  original  king  to 
whom  the  monument  belonged.  The  mythological  reference  on  this  monument, 
to  the  rearing  of  Amenmeses  by  Isis  in  Khemmis  is,  of  course,  applied  to  any  king 
in  the  inscriptions  (e.  g.,  Thutmose  III;  II,  138),  and  does  not  at  all  show  the 
actual  birthplace  of  the  king.  This  ancient  misunderstanding  appears  again  in 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaology^  1904,  37. 

*>Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  Text,  209-14;  Mimoires  'de  la  mission  frangaise  au 
Caircy  III,  123-36.  Seti  II  did  not  use  the  tomb  after  his  usurpation  of  it,  but 
hewed  another  and  larger  one  (Lcpsius,  Denkmdler,  Text,  III,  214  ff.;  Mimoires 
de  la  mission  frangaise  au  CairCy  III,  146  ff.).  The  empty  tomb  of  Tewosret  was 
then  usurped  by  Setnakht,  who  enlarged  it  {loc.  cit.). 

cLepsius,  Denkmdlery  III,  212. 

dSouth  wall  of  the  Abu  Simbel  temple;  unpublished,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  ascertain;  the  rendering  above  is  based  on  Steindorff’s  copy.  It  was 
known  to  Brugsch  {Geschichte,  587  f.). 


S646] 


NUBIAN  GRAFFITI 


277 


643.  2.^  Year  i  of  the  Good  God,  Ramses-^Siptah,  given  life. 
Praise  to  thy  ka,  O  Homs,  lord  of  Bohen !  May  he  grant  life,  prosperity, 
health,  fitness  foj^  service,  favor  and  love,  to  the  ka  of  the  king’s-mes- 
senger  to  every  country,  priest  of  the  Moon-god,  Thoth,  the  scribe 
(named)  Neferhor,  son  of  Neferhor,  scribe  of  the  archives  of  Pharaoh, 
L.  P.  H.,  when  he  came  with  rewards  for  the  officials  (h  ^  tyw)  of  Nubia 
{T^  -pd’t),  and  to  bring  the  king’s-son  of  Kush,  Seti  on  his  first  expe¬ 
dition. 

644.  3.C  Year  3  under  the  majesty  of  King  Siptah.^  The  fan- 
bearer  on  the  king’s  right  hand,  king’s-scribe,  overseer  of  the  treasury, 
king’s-scribe  of  the  archives  of  Pharaoh,  steward  in  the  house®  in  the 
house  of  Amon,  Piyay^  {Pyy  ^  y)  came  to  receive  the  tribute  of  the  land 
of  Kush. 

645.  4.8  Year  3  of  King  Siptah.  The  first  charioteer  of  his  majesty, 
king’s-messenger  to  every  country,  to  establish  the  chiefs  upon  their 
thrones,  satisfying  the  heart  of  his  lord,  Hori,  son  of  Kem  (K^w), 
triumphant,  of  the  great  stable  of  Seti-Merneptah,  of  the  court.  He 
Tti^de  it  in  the  year  3. 

646.  5.^  (Name  of  Siptah).  Year  3,  first  month  of  the  third  season, 
day  twenty.  Praise  to  thy  ka  1  O  mighty  king !  May  he  grant  favor 
to  the  ka  of  the'  fan-bearer  on  the  king’s  right  hand,  king’s-son  of  Kush, 
governor  of  south  countries,  Seti. 


“Haifa  temple,  Sayce’s  14;  Steindorff’s  manuscript. 

'^This  unusual  form  of  Siptah^s  name  occurs  also  at  Abu  Simbel  (No.  i,  {  642) — 
a  fact  overlooked  in  proposing  to  identify  this  king  with  Amenmeses  {Recutil, 
XVII,  162,  note),  who  never  has  Siptah  as  the  second  part  of  his  given  name. 
We  must  therefore  accept  two  forms  of  Siptah’s  name;  (i)  Ramses-Siptah,  used  at 
the  beginning  of  his  reign;  (2)  Merneptah-Siptah,  introduced  not  later  than  the 
year  3  (No.  4,  §  645).  The  change  is  paralleled,  e.  g.,  by  the  alteration  in  Seti  II’s 
name  (Lepsius,  DenhmUler,  Text,  III,  214). 

cHalfa  temple,  on  a  large  ram,  Sayce^s,  ii.  ^Double  name. 

«As  this  word  ** house'*  (Jt’t)  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  line,  something  has  evidently 
escaped  the  copyists  below;  we  have  here  the  official  name  of  an  Amon-temple, 
with  the  name  of  the  king  lacking  before  **in  the  house  of  Amon." 

f  A  third  graffito  of  the  year  3  in  this  temple  was  made  by  this  same  Piyay, 
Steindorff’s  manuscript. 

sHalfa  temple;  Sayce's  second  12;  Steindorff's  copy. 

^Rock  inscription  on  the  island  of  Sehel;  Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  III,  202,  6*- 
Mariette,  Monuments  diverSj  71,  No.  44 —de  Morgan,  Catalogue  des  monuments, 
I,  86,  No.  29=Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  V,  1215,  t. 

iHis  titles  are  repeated  below,  with  hereditary  prince"  prefixed. 


278 


NINETEENTH  DYNASTY:  SIPTAH 


[§647 

647.  6.®  A  relief  shows  King  Siptah  enthroned,  with  his 
treasurer,  Bay,  behind  him;  Seti,  the  viceroy  of  Kush,  is 
before  him  in  the  attitude  of  praise.  The  inscriptions 
are- 

Over  Bay 

Wearer  of  the  royal  seal,  sole  companion,  casting  out  lying,  present¬ 
ing  truth;  whom  the  king  established  fin]'^  the  seat  of  his  father,  great 
chief  treasurer  of  the  whole  land,  Ramses-Ediementer'^-Bay. 

Over  Seti 

Praise  to  thee!  O  mighty  king!  By  the  king’s-son  of  Kush,  gov¬ 
ernor  of  the  gold  countries  of  Amon,  fan-bearer  on  the  king^s  right 
hand,  chief  steward  of  the  king,  king’s-scribe  of  the  records  of  Pharaoh, 
L.  P.  H.,  Seti. 

648.  ^7.  Another  similar  relief  shows  King  Siptah  offer¬ 
ing  flowers  to  Amon;  Bay  appears  behind  the  king,  and  over 
them  both  are  the  words: 

King^s  Prayer 

Giving  praise  to  Amon-Re,  doing  obeisance  to  his  ka.  May  he 
protect  his  son.  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Ikhnere-Setepnere  (Siptah). 

Bay^s  Prayer 

649.  May  they®  grant  recognition  to  truth,  and  reward  to  him  who 
doeth  it  (truth),  a  prosperous  Ufe  with  a  happy  heart,  joy  of  heart,  pos¬ 
session  of  health ;  for  the  ka  of  the  great  chief  treasurer  of  the  whole  land, 

ARock  inscription  near  Assuan;  Lepsius,  DenkmcUer,  III,  202,  c  —  Champol- 
lion,  Notices  descriptivesy  I,  214 —de  Morgan,  Catalogue  des  monumenls,  I,  28,  No. 
6  (copied  from  Lepsius,  DenkmiUer,  with  all  the  mistakes). 

hThe  original  is  to  be  corrected  from  No.  7. 

cA  compound  name,  meaning:  ** Ramses-Shining- Among4he-Gods-Bay** 

<iln  a  rock  grotto  at  Gebel  Silsileh;  Champollion,  Monuments^  120,  4  Lepsius, 
Denkiudler,  III,  202,  a, 

^**They'*  means  Amon  and  Siptah. 


S^St] 


NUBIAN  GRAFFITI 


279 


whom^  the  king  established  in  the  seat  of  his  father,  whom  he  loved, 
Bay> 

650.  8.®  Year  6  of  the  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Ikhnere* 
Setepnere;  Son  of  Re:  Merneptah-Siptah. 

The  first  charioteer  of  his  majesty,  king^s-messenger  to  every  country, 
Ubekhu  His*^  son,  the  king’s-son  of  Kush,  Hori,  made  (it). 

651,  9.®  (Name  of  Siptah). 

Fan-bearer  on  the  king^s  right  hand,  king^s-messenger  to  Kharu  and 
Kush, - (name  lost). 


*That  this  is  a  relative  clause  is  shown  by  the  second  relative,  ^^whom  he 
lovedy**  which  shows  that  we  should  not  render  smn  as  a  participle.  The  n-form, 
which  we  should  expect  in  earlier  times,  is  perhaps  involved  in  the  n  of  smn  (Sethe, 
Verhum,  I,  §  226);  but  more  probably  the  form  is  simply  in  accord  with  the  pre¬ 
vailing  tendency  of  the  old  n-jorm  to  give  way  to  sdm'  f  at  this  time. 

third  inscription  of  the  reign  of  Siptah,  containing  the  same  phrase,  is  at 
Wadi  Haifa  (Steindorff’s  manuscript),  and  is,  of  course,  to  be  assigned  to  Bay, 
although  his  name  is  lost. 

cHalfa  temple;  Sayce’s  i.  Steindorff’s  copy. 

<iSo  Steindorff;  Sayce  has  ^^son  o/.” 

«Halfa  temple;  Sayce’s  3.